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THE   FIRST   BOOK   OF  THE 


FAITH-PROMOTING  SERIES. 


♦  ♦  » 


BY     GEORGE     Q.     CANNON. 


Designed     for    the     Instruction    and    Encoiaragement    of 
Young    Latter-day   Saints. 


♦•♦ 


% 


alEJool^^rID    Ejr^iTiOKT. 


JUVENILE  INSTEUCTOR  OFFICE. 

Salt   L.al£e    City, 

1882. 


Entered,  according  to  act  of  CongresS;  in  the  year  1879,  by  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  in 
the  Office  of  tha  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


J 


\ka^ 


PEEFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


npHE  first  chapter  of  this  little  woi  k  I  wrote  as  a  sketch  for 

the  perusal  of  the  youthful  readers  of  the  jL'A'ENILE 
Instructor.  It  was  written  hastily — as  were  those  which  fol- 
lowed it — and  without  any  author's  name,  or  any  intention,  at 
the  time,  of  adding  any  more  to  it.  Afterwards,  I  concluded  to 
write  a  series  of  missionary'  sketches ;  but  when  these  were  written 
I  did  not  have  any  intention  of  publishing  them  in  their  present 
form.  They  were  penned  in  a  plain,  familiar  and  personal  stj'le, 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  interest  of  young  people. 

When  a  youth,  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  live  in  the  family 
of  President  John  Taylor.  It  was  my  chief  delight  in  those 
days,  to  listen  to  him  and  other  Elders  relate  their  experience 
as  missionaries.  Such  conversations  were  very  fascinating  to 
me.  They  made  a  deep  impression  upon  me.  The  days  of 
which  they  spoke,  were  the  days  of  poverty,  when  Elders  trav- 
eled without  purse  and  scrip,  among  strange  people  who  were 
ignorant  of  our  principles,  and  too  many  of  whom  were  ready 
to  mob  and  persecute.  They  traveled  by  faith,  and  were  pioneers 
for  the  Lord  in  strange  lands,  and  He  was  their  only  reliance. 
Their  missions  were  rich  in  instances  of  His  power  exhibited  in 
their  behal£  What  I  heard  strengthened  my  faith  and  increased 
the  desire  in  my  heart  to  be  a  missionary.  No  calling  was 
so  noble  in  my  eyes  as  that  of  a  standard-bearer  of  the  gospel. 

The  thought  which  prompts  me  to  publish  My  First  Mission 
is  that  perhaps  it  may  have  the  efiect  upon  some  of  the  youth 


PREFACTK  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


of  Zion  that  the  recifals  of  faithful  Elders  had  upon  me.  I  hope 
that  this  will  soon  be  followed  by  other  little  volumes  of  this, 
the  Faith-Promotixg  Series.  I  have  thought  that  the  mission- 
ary' spirit  did  not  bum  as  brightly  in  some  of  our  young  men  as 
it  should — that  they  did  not  understand  the  value  of  human 
souls  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  and  the  precious  rewards  which 
He  bestows  upon  those  who  seek,  in  the  proper  way,  to  save 
them.  And  yet  there  never  was  greater  need  of  faithful  men 
as  missionaries  than  there  is  to-day.  '  'The  field  is  white  already 
to  harvest, ' '  and  there  is  no  limit  in  the  field  to  the  opportunities 
of  those  who  desire  to  labor. 

If  this  little  work  shall  have  the  effect  to  awaken  and  strengthen 
the  missionary^  spirit,  if  the  remembrtance  of  its  incidents, 
shall  comfort  the  hearts  and  promote  the  faith  of  any  when  they 
go  upon  missions,  the  utmost  desire  will  be  gratified  of 

The  Author. 
Sep.  1879, 


# 


PKEFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


'T^WO-AXD-A-TIALF  years  have  elapsed  since  the  first  edi- 
tion  of  My  First  Mission  was  published.  It  was  the  first 
work  of  the  kind  issued,  and  the  success  of  the  venture,  finan- 
cially, was  by  no  means  certain  at  that  time.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  now,  that  our  most  sanguine  expectations  in  commencing  the 
publication  of  the  Faith-Promoting  Series  have  been  more 
than  realized.  My  First  Mission  soon  became  popular;  the 
6,000  copies  of  the  first  edition  are  all  disposed  of,  and  there  is 
a  demand  for  more.  Four  other  volumes  of  the  same  series 
have  also  been  issued,  and  received  with  equal  favor;  indeed, 
it  seems  that  each  volume  issued  creates  a  taste  fi^r  another. 
We  expect  very  soon  to  issue  the  sixth  volume  of  the  series 
and  that  will  be  followed  by  others  as  fast  as  our  circumstances 
will  permit.  The  good  that  has  already  been  accomplished  by 
these  books,  if  we  may  accept  the  numerous  testimonies  we 
are  constantly  receiving,  cannot  be  estimated;  and  yet  we  feel 
that  the  work  in  this  direction  has  only  just  commenced.  That 
it  may  continue  until  such  works  will  abound  in  the  midst  of 
the  Saints,  and  until  the  youth  will  be  influenced  by  them  to 
live  lives  of  purity  and  perform  deeds  of  righteousness,  is  the 
earnest  desire  of 

The  1\'blisher. 
March,  1882. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Timidity  wlien  AttemiDting  to  Speak  in  Public — Determination 
to  Persevere,  Relying  upon  God — Assuring  Manifestation 
of  the  Presence  of  tlie  Spirit  of  Grod.  Page  9. 

CHAPTER    II. 

From  San  Francisco  to  Honolulu — Storm  and  Sea-sickness. 

Page  12, 

CHAPTER    III. 

Honolulu,  its  Location  and  Harbor — Prayer  to  tbe  Almighty — 
The  Elders  Separate,  and  Commence  Labor  on  the  Four 
Principal  Islands.  Page  16. 

CHAPTER     lY. 

Our  House  on  Maui — Interviews  with  the  Consul  and  Governor 
— Our  First  Public  Preaching — ^We  Determine  to  Learn 
the  Language  and  Proclaim  the  Gospel  to  the  Natives. 

Page  19. 

CHAPTER    V. 

Kindness  of  Na-Lima-Nui — To  Honolulu — Some  of  the  Elders 
Decide  to  Return  Home.  Page  23. 

CHAPTER     YI. 

I  Return  to  Maui — We  are  Yisited  by  the  President  of  the 
Mission,  who  Determines  to  go  to  the  Marqueses  Islands — 
Are  not  Led  to  go  with  Him — -"Poi,  '  its  Preparation  and 
Peculiarities.  Page  28. 

CHAPTER     Y II. 

Start  on  a  Tour  Around  the  Island — Arrive  at  Wailuku — In  a 
Remarkable  Manner  Become  Acquainted  with  J.  H. 
Napela.  Page  34. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTP:il    VIII. 

A  Missionary's  Craft  in  Danger— He  Preaches  Against  us  and 
our  Doctrines,  and  Abuses  our  Friends — His  Remarks 
(Overruled  for  our  Good— The  Lord's  Promise  Fulfilled— 
Oo  to  Kula.  Page  37. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Another  Attack  from  a  Aljssionary — Courage  in  Defending  the 
Truth  Always  Admired— Poverty  of  the  People. 

Page  40. 

CHAPTER    X. 

Successful  Meetings — Our  Principles  Receiving  Great  Notice 
— Elder  Keeler  and  ^lyself  at  Keanae— Remarkable  Suc- 
cess in  Baptizing.  Page  43. 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Arrival  of  Xew  Elders — ^The  Adversary  Busy  Among  New 
Converts — X  Fishing  Scene.  Page  47. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Interview  with  the  Dignitaries  of  the  Kingdom — Return  to 
Xapelas  House  at  Wailuku — Hundreds  of  People  Bap- 
tized— Elders  Become  Famous  all  over  the  Group — A  Re- 
markable Peculiarity.  Page  50. 

CHxiPTER    XIII. 

Mi.ssionaries  from  Home — Good  Results  of  their  Presence  and 
Labors — A'oyage  in  the  Canoe  of  the  Islandei'S — Tradition 
of  the  Natives — ^A  Visit  to  a  ^"olcano.  Page  55. 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

A  Hawaiian  Feast — Amusing  Joke  Played  upon  White  Men. 

Page  GO. 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Answers  to  Pra.ver,  and  the  Bestowal  of  the  Gifts  upon  the 
Elders  and  People — Elders  Sent  to  Teach  not  to  be  Taught 
— Blessings  will  Rest  upon  those  who  Labor  Among  the 
Red  Men  for  Their  Salvation.  Page  62. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Consolation  drawn  from  the  Book  of  Mormon — Its  Translation 
into  the  Hawaiian  Language — Great  Joy  in  the  Labor — A 
Committee  to  Raise  Funds  to  Purchase  a  Press,  etc. — 
Press  Sent  to  California — The  Book  of  Mormon  Printed — 
The  First  Translation  into  the  Language  of  a  Nation  of 
Red  Men— The  "Western  Standard."  Page  67. 

CHAP  TER    XYII. 

Time  of  Departure —  Funds  Provided — Sorrow  at  Parting — 
Contrast  Between  Landing  and  Departure — Souls  for  our 
Hire — A  Happy  Mission.  Page  74. 


MY    FIRST    MISSION. 


CHAPTER   I. 

TIMIDITY  WHEN  ATTEMPTIXG  TO  SPEAK  IN  PUBLIC — DETER- 
MINATION TO  PERSEVERE,  RELYING  i:PON  GOD — ASSURING 
MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  PRESENCE  OF  THE  SPIRIT  OF  GOD. 

'T^HE  writer  vriW  i^robably  never  forget  his  first  attempts 
-■•  at  speaking  in  public.  While  yet  a  youth  he  was  ordained 
one  of  the  Seventj'  Elders.  The  quorum  of  which  he  became 
a  member  was  organized  the  day  he  was  ordained,  and  he  was 
chosen  to  be  its  clerk.  At  the  meetings  of  the  quorum  it  was 
the  custom  of  those  of  the  Presidents  who  were  present  to 
make  a  few  remarks,  and  then  the  members  were  called  upon 
to  speak. 

On  such  occasions  he  would  get  so  nervous  that  he  would 
have  to  stop  writing  some  time  before  it  came  his  turn  to  speak ; 
and  then,  when  he  did  get  up,  he  scarcely  knew  what  he  said, 
his  fright  was  so  great. 

He  constantly  sufi"ered  from  this  feeling  of  fear  whenever  ho 
attempted  to  speak  at  quorum  meetings,  or  testimony  meetings, 
and  in  fact,  for  some  time  after  starting  on  a  preaching  mission. 

There  was  one  resolve  that  he  made  in  the  beginning,  whicli 
he  always  kept,  and  which  he  desires  to  impress  upon  every  boy 
and  girl  in  Zion. 

He  made  up  his  mind  that,  whenever  called  upon,  he  would, 
with  the  help  of  the  Lord,  alwaj-s  ask  a  blessing,  or  pray,  or 
speak,  and  not  try  to  excuse  himself 

No  matter  how  many  have  been  present,  nor  how  awkward  and 
frightened  he  has  felt,  he  has  always  done  what  was  requested 
of  him.  But  how  many  times  he  has  seen  young  men  and 
women  decline  to  speak  and  to  pray  when  called  upon  !  He  has 
both  pitied  and  felt  ashamed  for  them. 
1 


10  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

Such  persons  acquire  a  habit  of  balking,  and  baJki/  men  and 
women  are  as  bad  in  their  places  as  balky  horses  are  in  theirs. 

Many  persons  think  that  because  they  are  bashful,  and  are 
not  in  the  habit  of  asking  a  blessing  or  praying  aloud  that,  there- 
fore, they  can  excuse  themselves  when  called  upon  to  do  so. 
But  right-feeling  people  admire  boys  and  girls,  young  men  and 
young  women,  who  have  the  courage  and  good  manners  to  com- 
ply with  a  request  of  this  kind,  even  if  they  should  make  awk- 
ward blunders,  far  more  than  they  would  if  they  refused  to  do  so. 

What  is  called  bashfulness  is  frequently  nothing  more  than 
pride.  Those  who  are  troubled  with  it  are  generally  anxious  to 
appear  to  advantage ;  they  desire  the  approbation  of  their  fel- 
lows ;  and  the  fear  that  they  will  say  or  do  something  that  will 
not  co;^5  up  to  the  standard,  oppresses  them  and  makes  them 
nervous. 

The  first  time  the  writer  was  called  upon  to  speak  to  a  mixed 
congregation  of  Saints  and  inquirers  he  was  in  the  company  of 
nine  Elders.  There  were  only  two  or  three  of  them  who  had 
ever  spoken  in  public  ;  but  as  he  v>^as  the  youngest  of  the  party, 
and  felt  that  he  was  but  a  boy,  he  thought  they  would  all  be 
called  upon  before  him.  To  his  surprise,  however,  the  Elder 
who  was  presiding  called  first  upon  him. 

True  to  his  resolve,  he  arose  and  commenced.  For  two  or 
three,  or  probably  five  minutes,  he  did  pretty  well.  Then  he  got 
confused,  his  ideas  were  in  a  jumble,  and  he  forgot  all  he  ever 
knew.  If  the  bottom  had  dropped  out  of  his  memory,  it  could 
not  have  been  worse.  He  sat  down,  feeling  a  little  ashamed  ; 
but  not  discouraged.  He  was  on  a  mission,  and  he  was  deter- 
mined not  to  back  down  and  fail.  But  it  is  very  mortifying  to 
get  up  to  speak  and  then  break  down. 

After  this,  he  took  a  three  weeks'  voyage  to  the  countrj^  to 
which  he  was  appointed  on  a  mission.  After  landing,  he  attended 
a  public  meeting  of  strangers  who  had  never  heard  the  gos- 
pel. It  was  held  in  a  Seamen's  Bethel,  the  minister  having 
kindly  ofiered  it  to  the  Elders  for  their  meeting.  One  of  the 
Elders  spoke  on  the  first  principles ;  the  writer  followed  him  and 
bore  testijnony  and  made  some  other  remarks.  He  was  much 
frightened  and  embarrassed  ;  but  he  spoke  at  greater  length  than 
he  did  before. 


DREAD  AT  THOUGHTS  OF  PREACHING.  11 

After  this,  circumstances  required  liim  to  go  out  among  the 
people  alone.  In  that  country-,  where  they  had  no  bells  to  ring, 
they  called  the  people  together  b}'  blowing  a  conch  shell.  When 
skillfull}'  blown,  one  of  these  can  be  heard  at  a  long  distance. 
As  the  hour  approached  for  meeting,  it  was  customary  to  com- 
mence blowing  the  shell,  and  then  our  young  missionary  would 
be  seized  with  trembling.  The  feeling  of  dread  was  terrible. 
He  had  been  in  places  of  peril  where  life  was  in  danger  ;  but  he 
never  felt  as  he  did  about  ])reaching.  He  was  alone  and  a 
stranger,  and  among  a  strange  people.  But  he  would  not  shrink. 
He  knew  that  the  gospel  was  true,  that  he  had  the  authority  to 
preach  it,  that  the  people  had  to  be  warned,  and,  therefore,  with 
all  his  fear,  he  could  not  hold  his  tongue.  He  felt  like  Paul 
did  when  he  said  to  the  Corinthians :  ' '  Woe  is  unto  me  if  I  preach 
not  the  gospel. ' ' 

About  six  weeks  after  he  commenced  his  ministry  alone  two 
messengers  an'ived  fi'om  a  distant  town  to  invite  him  to  come 
there  and  preach.  They  had  heard  about  the  doctrine  he  taught, 
and  the  people  he  had  baptized,  and  they  wanted  to  learn  more 
about  the  principles.  He  returned  with  the  messengers.  A 
large  meeting  house  was  obtained  in  which  to  preach.  It  was 
crowded,  for  the  people  had  never  before  had  the  privilege  of 
hearing  a  sei-mon  delivered  by  a  Latter-day  Saint.  You  can 
imagine  how  he  felt.  Here  was  a  people  anxious  to  hear,  and 
yet  how  weak  he  wiis,  and  how  full  of  fear  and  trembling  !  When 
he  arose  to  give  out  thehj^mnthe  sound  of  his  voice  in  that  large 
building  scared  him.  Then  he  prayed,  and  afterwards  gave  out 
another  hj-mn.  He  had  called  mightily  upon  God  for  help. 
When  he  commenced  to  speak  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  rested  upon 
him  as  it  never  had  done  before.  The  people  had  ftiith,  and 
their  hearts  were  prepared  to  receive  the  truth.  For  upwards 
of  an  hour  he  spoke,  and  he  was  so  carried  away  in  the  Spirit, 
that  he  was  like  a  man  in  a  trance.  Joy  filled  his  heart  and  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  They  wept  like  children,  and  that  day 
was  the  beginning  of  a  good  work  in  that  place. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  to  you  the  gladness  that  our 
young  missionary  felt.  He  had  been  a  slave ;  but  now  he  was 
free.  God  had  broken  the  bands  of  fear,  and  he  felt  to  glorify 
Him  for  His  goodness.     From  that  day  to  this  he  has  never 


12  MY  FIRST  jnSSION. 

suifered  from  those  dreadful  feelings  which  opi^ressed  him.  Still, 
there  are  but  few  public  speakers,  especially  in  this  Church, 
who  do  not  have  a  nervous  feeling  when  they  first  arise  to  speak ; 
and  it  is  frequently  the  rase  that  when  they  feel  the  most  ner- 
vous they  are  enabled  to  speak  with  the  greatest  power.  They 
feel  their  own  weakness,  and  they  seek  unto  God  for  help. 

Many  of  the  readers  of  this  may  yet  be  sent  on  missions,  and  a 
recollection  of  this  sketch  may  help  them  to  persevere.  Never 
decline  to  ask  a  blessing,  to  pray  or  to  speak  when  called  upon, 
and  Grod  will  help  you  to  overcome  all  feelings  of  fear. 


-•-^ 


CHAPTER   II. 

FROM      SAN     FRANCISCO     TO     HONOLULU — STORM     AND      SEA- 
SICKNESS. 

IN  early  days  in  California  everjiihing  was  valued  at  a  high 
price.  There  were  ten  of  us,  Elders,  who  wanted  to  get 
passage  from  San  Francisco  to  Honolulu,  the  principal  town  on 
the  Sandwich  Islands.  After  trying  for  some  da^-s  we  succeed- 
ed in  obtaining  a  passage  between  decks  on  the  good  ship 
Imaum  of  Mmcat^  Captain  Hitches,  commander.  We  had  to 
find  our  own  bedding  ;  but  the  captain  agreed  to  furnish  us  food, 
which  we  were  told  was  to  be  the  same  as  they  had  in  the  cabin. 

Either  this  part  of  the  contract  was  not  fulfilled,  or  they  lived 
poorly  in  the  cabin ;  for  our  fare  was  not  very  inviting.  But  we 
thought  we  were  fortunate  in  not  having  to  pay  more  than  $40 
in  gold  for  the  passage  and  these  privileges. 

I  have  seen  places  that  were  more  comfortable  than  our  quar- 
ters between  decks.  I  have  been  on  the  sea  many  times  since, 
and  I  believe,  if  I  had  my  choice,  I  would  take  a  trip  as  a  cabin 
passenger  on  a  Cunard  steamship  in  preference  to  a  voyage  on 
the  Imaum  of  Muscat^  with  its  cabin  fare  and  the  privilege  of 
sleeping  in  my  own  blankets. 

The  Imaum  was  low  between  decks,  and  then  it  was  so  dark 
there,  that  for  a  few  minutes  after  descending,  we  could  see 


OFF  FOR  THE   SANDWICH  ISLANDS.  IS 

nothing.  We  had  had  some  rough  experience,  however,  since 
leaving  oiir  homes,  and  we  were  not  disposed  to  find  fiiult 
with  our  ship  or  her  accommodations. 

For  one  week  after  embarking  we  lay  in  the  bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, head  winds  preventing  our  sailing.  This  was  tiresome  to 
us,  and  did  not  suit  the  captain,  for  he  had  to  feed  us,  at  least 
a  part  of  the  time.  Probably  this  week's  delay  helped  him  to 
conclude  that  cabin  fire  was  too  good  for  us.  As  soon  as  the 
wind  became  at  all  favorable,  the  pilot  thought  it  best  to  get  ready 
for  sea,  and  when  the  tide  turned  to  go  out,  about  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  we  hoisted  sail  and  started. 

My  recollections  of  passing  out  of  the  Golden  Gate,  as  the 
mouth  of  San  Francisco  harbor  is  called,  are  not  verj-^  pleasant. 
We  had  to  beat  out,  that  is.  tack  from  side  to  side,  and  the  swell 
came  in  from  the  ocean  in  large,  heavy,  rolling  waves.  On  each 
side  we  could  see  a  long  line  of  breakers  running  seaward,  the 
foam  looking  in  the  distance  like  large  banks  of  snow. 

We  had  not  passed  through  the  Gate  when  we  began  to  be 
sea-sick.  Tliose  ocean  swells  will  produce  sea-sickness  very 
quickly.  There  was  no  place  on  deck  to  be  sick  without  being 
in  the  way,  so  we  ran  below.  I  vomited  freely  and  felt  relieved, 
and  then  went  on  deck  again.  The  sun  was  declining  in  the  west, 
and  the  sky  was  angrj-looking  and  threatening,  giving  every 
indication  of  a  storm.  We  were  outside  the  heads,  and  before 
us  stretched  the  great  Pacific ;  but  there  were  islands  around, 
of  which  the  ca]jtain  knew  but  little.  He  did  not  like  the  idea 
of  the  pilot  leaving  him  in  such  a  i)osition  with  darkness  approach- 
ing and  every  prospect  of  a  storm. 

If  the  captain  was  anxious  to  have  the  pilot,  remain,  the  latter 
was  equally  desirous  of  getting  away  from  the  ship  before  night- 
fall. He  had  no  wish  to  remain  through  the  storm  and  to  run 
the  risk  of  being  carried  out  to  sea;  so  vrhen  a  pilot  boat  hove 
in  sight,  he  hailed  it,  and  descended  into  the  little  yawl  which 
came  from  it  fur  him  in  such  haste  that  he  forgot  his  water-proof 
coat. 

It  was  ver\'  natural,  I  suppose,  for  him  after  piloting  the  ship 
out  of  the  harbor,  to  be  eager  to  get  back  before  the  storm  broke 
upon  us ;  but  I  believe  we  all  should  have  felt  better  if  he  had 
remained  w^ith  us. 


14  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

* 

The  captain,  especially,  felt  the  responsibility'  of  his  position. 
Here  he  was  outside  of  a  strange  harbor,  on  a  dangerous  coast, 
with  a  strong  ^^ind  blowing  directly  on  shore,  and  darkness  upon 
him  and  he  ignorant  of  his  surroundings  ! 

We  had  no  time  to  indulge  in  many  reflections  upon  the  sub- 
ject. Our  time  was  occupied  in  another  direction,  for  we  were 
all  suffering  severely  from  the  effects  of  sea-sickness ;  and  not- 
withstanding the  dangers  of  our  situation,  the  sense  of  the  ridi- 
culous, in  my  case — only  one  bucket  iamong  us  for  every  j^ur- 
pose — overcame  fear,  and  I  could  not  help  laughing. 

Many  of  our  Elders  and  foreign  settlers  have  been  in  a  similar 
position,  and  all  such  can  imagine  our  feelings  better  than  I  can 
describe  them.  My  levity,  however,  under  circumstances  so 
inconvenient  and  perplexing,  offended  one  of  the  Elders  so  much 
that  he  reprimanded  me  for  it. 

While  we  were  thus  engaged,  the  noise  on  deck  was  ver>^  great. 
The  captain  had  as  first  mate  a  half-caste  East  Indian,  and  the 
most  of  his  hands  were  Malays.  His  orders  to  the  mate,  and 
the  latter' s  cries  to  the  hands,  and  their  chattering  to  one  another, 
made  a  clamor  that  sounded  loud  above  the  noise  of  the  storm. 

Right  in  the  midst  of  our  sickness  we  heard  the  startling  cry 
from  the  mate  of  '  'breakers  ahead, ' '  and  that  we  were  close  upon 
them.  At  any  other  time  this  tv^ould  have  excited  us ;  but  we 
were  so  sick  we  did  not  mind  it. 

Shortly  after  this,  we  felt  the  vessel  strike  something  solid, 
and  she  trembled  from  stem  to  stern ;  this  was  directly  followed 
by  a  grati'ng  sound  and  a  thumping  at  the  stern.  The  first  thought 
was  that  she  had  stnick  a  reef;  but  as  we  felt  her  settle  in  the 
trough  of  the  sea,  we  knew  that  if  she  had  struck,  she  had 
passed  over  it. 

The  shock  that  we  felt  was  caused  by  a  heavj^  breaker  striking 
us ;  it  had  broken  the  wheel  ropes,  and  the  grating  noise  that 
we  heard  was  the  thumping  of  the  helm.  Had  the  breaker  gone 
over  us  it  would  have  swept  the  decks  clean,  or,  had  the  wheel 
ropes  broken  a  short  time  before,  it  is  probable  the  vessel  would 
have  been  lost. 

In  considering  our  narrow  escape,  afterwards,  we  felt  to  give 
the  glory  of  our  deliverance  to  Grod.  We  were  His  servants,  and 
on  His  business,  and  He  had  preserved  us. 


RELIEF  FROM   PERIL.  15 

That  niglit  was  one  of  great  anxiety  to  the  captain,  officers 
and  crew.  Notwithstanding  our  sickness,  we  also  realized  that 
we  were  in  a  critical  position,  and  exerted  all  the  faith  we  could. 

The  captain  had  his  Avife  with  him,  and  so  little  hope  did  he 
have  at  one  time  of  saving  the  vessel,  that  he  told  her  to  pre- 
pare for  eternity,  for  he  did  not  think  we  would  ever  see  daj^light 
in  this  world  again. 

At  last  the  morning  dawned,  the  storm  died  away,  and  we 
were  enabled  to  take  our  course. 

Oh.  the  blessed  daylight !  How  joyfully  it  was  hailed  on  board 
that  vessel !  It  did  not  relieve  us  from  our  sea-sickness,  but  it 
did  from  our  peril. 

Several  days  elapsed  befcjre  the  captain  recovered  from  his 
fatigue  and  hoarseness,  caused  by  shouting  his  orders  that  night. 

The  Imaiun  of  Muscat  was  bound  for  the  East  Indies,  but 
was  to  touch  at  the  Sandwich  Itjjands.  We  were  glad  that  we 
had  to  go  no  farther,  so  it  was  with  positive  delight  that  we  learned 
after  being  nearly  four  weeks  on  board,  that  we  would  soon 
be  at  the  end  of  our  voyage. 

The  sight  of  land  is  most  welcome  to  those  who  have  been 
weeks  at  sea,  especially  if  they  have  suifered  from  sea-sickness. 
To  our  eyes,  therefore,  the  rough,  mountainous  isles  of  the 
Hawaii  angroup  were  veiy  beautiful.  We  longed  to  tread 
upon  them. 

For  myself,  I  was  scarcely  intended  for  a  sailor.  I  am  very 
easih'  made  sick  by  the  motion  of  a  vessel  on  the  water,  and  no 
amount  of  going  to  sea  prevents  this.  Some  years  since,  while 
crossing  the  Atlantic,  I  lay  sea-sick  in  my  berth,  and  to  divert 
my  mind,  I  tried  to  recall  the  number  of  different  times  I  had 
been  in  that  condition.  I  counted  upwards  of  fifty  distinct  occa- 
sions that  I  had  suffered  from  this  sensation,  and  I  have  been 
sea-sick  a  number  of  times  since. 

During  the  night  we  passed  the  island  of  Hawaii,  the  largest 
of  the  group,  and  the  one  on  which  Captain  Cook,  the  first  white 
man  (so  far  as  known)  who  discovered  these  islands,  was  killed. 

The  next  morning  the  island  of  Maui  was  seen  in  the  distance. 
Then  Molokai  and  Lanai ;  and  the  morning  following,  when  we 
arose,  we  were  sailing  alongside  of  Oahu,  the  island  on  which 
the  town  of  Honolulu,  the  capital  of  the  kingdom,  is  situated. 


.It3  MY  FIRST  >nSSION. 


CHAPTER   III. 

HONOLULU,  ITS  LOCATION  AND  HARBOR — PRAYER  TO  THE 
ALMIGHTY — THE  ELDERS  SEPARATE,  AND  C03BIENCE 
LABOR  ON  THE  FOUR  PRINCIPAL  ISLANDS. 

HONOLULU  is  built  on  an  extensive  flat,  of  great  fertility. 
The  town  is  pretty,  and  wears  a  tropical  look ;  but,  sinca 
the  time  of  which  I  w^ite,  its  buildings  and  suiToundings  have 
been  greatly  improved.  Grroves  of  cocoa-nut  trees,  with  their 
long  featheiy  leaves,  and  tall  graceful  trunks,  were  growing  here 
and  there  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town,  and  trees  of  other  kinds 
were  also  abundant  in  and  around  it.  Behind  Honolulu  stretches 
what  is  called  the  Nuuanu  valley,  a  beautiful  country,  which, 
even  when  we  first  visited  it,  was  selected  as  a  proper  locality 
ior  the  ^dllas  and  country  residences  and  gardens  of  the  officers 
of  the  government,  the  missionaries  and  merchants. 

On  the  right  of  the  harbor  of  Honolulu  is  '  'Punch  Bowl  Hill, 
a  large  hill  where  once  a  volcano  burned,  but  which  is  now  extinct. 
The  name  is  very  suitable,  for  the  volcano  has  left  it  more  in  the 
shape  of  a  punch  bowl  than  anything  else. 

While  yet  some  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  we  met 
several  canoes,  containing  natives  of  the  islands,  who  were  out 
fishing.  These  canoes  were  merely  logs  hollowed  out ;  but  they 
were  easily  managed,  and,  with  the  aid  of  sails,  their  progress 
through  the  water  was  very  rapid.  To  prevent  their  turning 
over,  they  had  outriggers  fastened  to  their  sides. 

A  coral  reef,  over  which  the  sea  breaks  with  a  tremendous  roar, 
even  in  calm  v/eather,  extends  nearly  around  the  habor  of  Hono- 
lulu. The  entrance  is  verj^  narrow,  and  seemed  difficult  of 
•access,  and  as  we  entered,  guided  by  a  skillful  pilot,  a  man  was 
kept  busy  throwing  the  lead  to  learn  the  depth  of  the  water. 
On  the  reef  were  the  wrecks  of  several  vessels.  The  water  was 
beautifully  clear,  and  it  was  easy  to  distinguish  the  bottom  as  we 
sailed  along. 


PRAYEK  ON  THE  TOP  OF  A  MOUNTAIN.         IT 

No  sooner  was  the  anchor  dropped  than  the  decks  were  crowded 
with  natives ;  some  trving  to  sell  bananas,  oranges,  cocoa- 
nuts,  melons  and  other  fruits  (this  was  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber), and  others  anxious  to  take  us  ashore.  The  monotonous 
character  of  their  language,  their  rapid  utterance,  their  numer- 
ous gestures,  caused  us  to  watch  them  with  interest.  We  thought 
them  a  strange  people.  I  little  thought  at  that  time  that  I 
would  ever  learn  their  language,  or  become  as  familiar  with  their 
customs  as  I  afterwards  did ;  for,  though  we  had  been  sent  on 
missions  to  the  Islands,  we  supposed  our  time  would  be  occupied 
in  preaching  to  the  whites. 

Our  first  duty,  after  securing  lodgings,  was  to  repair  to  a  con- 
venient mountain,  on  the  top  of  which  we  found  a  steep  knob 
that  rose  suddenly  and  formed  a  table  of  thirty  or  thirty-five  feet 
in  width. 

On  the  way  up  we  picked  up  a  rock  apiece,  with  which  we 
fitrmed  a  rude  altar.  We  then  sang  a  hvmu,  -and  each  one,  in 
his  turn,  expressed  his  desires.  The  oldest,  who  was  also  the 
president,  was  selected  to  be  mouth  in  prayer.  He  embodied 
our  desires  in  his  prayer.  They  were  that  the  Lord  would  make 
speedy  work  on  those  islands,  open  an  effectual  door  for  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  confound  all  opposers,  help  us  to  gather  out 
the  honest-in-heart,  and  spare  our  lives  to  return  home  in  safety. 

Having  thus  dedicated  the  land  and  ourselves  to  the  Lord* 
one  of  the  Eldei-s  spoke  in  tong-ues  and  uttered  many  comforting 
promises,  and  another  interi)reted.  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  rested 
powerfully  upon  us,  and  we  were  filled  with  exceeding  great  joy. 
I  had  the  satisftiction,  afterwards  of  witnessing  the  fulfillment 
of  the  promise  made  on  that  occasion. 

The  sun  was  sinking  low  in  thelieavens  when  we  got  through. 
Our  descent  was  quickly  made,  for  we  felt  joyful,  and  when  men 
are  joyful  and  the  Spirit  of  God  rests  upon  them,  they  feel  lithe 
and  active.  We  had  been  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  had 
felt  His  power,  and  why  should  we  not  be  happy  ? 

The  president  of  the  mission  had  chosen  as  his  companion  the 
next  oldest  man.  The  most  suitable  place  for  them  to  remain, 
we  all  felt,  was  at  Honolulu.  But  what  must  the  rest  do  ?  Scat- 
ter among  the  other  islands,  or  remain  on  that  island — Oahu — 
until  they  learned  more  of  the  condition  of  affairs  ?    It  waa 


18  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

decided  that  to  go  to  the  various  islands  would  be  tlie  wiser  plan. 

There  were  four  islands  of  importance  yet  to  be  occupied,  and 
there  were  eight  of  us  remaining.  But  who  were  to  be  partners, 
and  how  should  we  decide  which  island  each  couple  should  go 
to  ?  The  president  did  not  hke  to  pair  us  off,  nor  to  say  which 
of  the  islands  we  should  go  to  ;  but  he  consented,  with  his  part- 
ner, to  select  four  out  of  the  eight  to  preside,  one  on  each  of  the 
islands. 

We  withdrew  while  they  discussed  this  matter,  and  made  their 
selection.  To  my  great  surprise,  when  we  returned,  I  found  that 
I  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  four.  Never  in  my  life  did  I  feel  my 
weakness  more  sensibly  than  on  that  occasion.  I  was  the  young- 
est of  the  party,  and  felt  that  I  was  the  least  able  of  all  to  per- 
form the  duties  assigned  me. 

The  next  thing  was  to  select  partners  and  islands ;  and  how  do 
you  think  we  did  this  ?  You  read  in  the  Bible  about  casting  lots. 
We  cast  lots.  Four  pieces  of  paper  were  marked :  one^  two,  three 
and  four.  The  one  who  drew  one  had  the  first  choice  of  part- 
ners ;  so  with  the  second,  third  and  fourth  numbers.  Then  the 
islands  were  marked  on  slips  of  paper  in  the  same  manner,  and 
we  drew  for  them.  Number  one  fell  to  my  lot.  I  had  the  first 
choice. 

My  mind  had  not  rested  on  any  one  as  my  choice  for  partner, 
and  I  was  at  a  loss  for  a  few  moments  whom  to  select.  Then 
the  spirit  of  the  Lord  plainly  told  me  to  chose  Brother  James 
Keeler.     I  did  so. 

I  was  both  surprised  and  pleased  at  the  manner  in  which  he 
received  my  choice ;  for  I,  being  so  young,  and  he  so  much  my 
senior,  had  thought  that  he  would  prefer  a  partner  of  more  ma- 
ture years  and  experience. 

He  afterwards  told  me  that  when  the  four  were  chosen,  and 
he  found  that  I  was  one  of  them,  he  had  slipped  out  and  prayed 
to  the  Lord  that  I  might  be  led  to  select  him  to  go  with  me.  His 
prayer  was  heard  and  answered,  and  we  both  were  gratified. 

In  casting  lots  for  islands,  Maui  fell  to  us.  When  we  were 
sailing  ])ast  it  my  feelings  were  drawn  towards  that  island,  and 
I  felt  that  I  would  like  that  to  be  my  field  of  labor.  I  knew  not 
why  this  should  have  been  so,  except  that  the  Lord  gave  me  the 


OUR  FlitDS   OF  LABOR   DESIGNATED.  19 

feelintr,  fori  knew  nothing  concerning  it  that  wonkl  make  it  a 
desirable  place  in  my  eyes. 

My  joy  was  verj'  great  that  evening,  because  of  these  precious 
manifestations  of  Gods  goodness.  I  felt  that  he  was  near  at 
hand  to  hear  and  answer  ])rayer,  and  to  grant  the  righteous  de- 
sires of  our  hearts ;  and  how  could  we  doubt  His  providence  for 
and  care  over  us  in  the  future  ? 

Children,  I  know  of  no  feeling  that  can  fill  the  human  breast 
wi^i  such  unsi>eakable  ha])piness,  joy  and  confidence  as  faith  in 
(jrod.     If  God  be  with  us  who  can  be  against  us  ? 

As  I  have  already  mentioned,  there  were  eight  of  us  Elders, 
besides  the  two  who  were  to  remain  at  Honolulu.  Their  names 
were  Hiram  Clark,  the  president,  and  his  fellow-laborer,  Thomas 
Whittle.  The  island  on  which  we  first  landed  was  to  be  their 
field.  The  four  who  were  chosen  to  preside  on  the  other  islands 
were  :  Henrj'  W.  Bigler,  whose  partner  was  Thomas  Morris, 
and  to  whom  the  island  of  Molokai  fell  by  lot ;  John  Dixon,  whose 
partner  was  William  Farrer.  and  whose  field  was  the  island  of 
Kauai  ;  James  Hawkins,  who  chose  Hiram  Blackwell  as  his  com- 
panion, and  to  whom  the  island  of  Hawaii  fell  as  a  field  of  labor ; 
and  George  Q.  Cannon,  whose  fellow-laborer  was  James  Keeler, 
and  their  field  the  island  of  Maui. 

As  the  president  counseled  Brother  Moms  to  go^to  work  at 
Honolulu,  and  Brother  Bigler  was,  therefore,  alone,  and  his 
island  lay  convenient  to  Maui,  he  concluded  to  accompany  the 
two  last-named  Elders  to  Maui. 

The  thought  of  jiarting  from  his  companions  in  a  foreign  land 
produces  lonely  feelings  in  the  breast  of  an  Elder,  but  particularly 
if  he  be  j'oung  and  inexperienced.  Our  consolation  on  this  occa- 
sion was  that  we  were  taking  the  plan  whereby  we  might  reap 
more  abundant  joy. 


20  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

OUR  HOUSE  ON  3IAUI — INTERVIEWS  WITH  THE  CONSUL  AND 
GOVERNOR— OUR  FIRST  PUBLIC  PREACHING — ^TE  DETER- 
MINE TO  LEARN  THE  LANGUAGE  AND  PROCLALM  THE 
GOSPEL  TO  THE  NATIVES. 

LAHx\IXA  is  the  principal  town  on  Maui.  It  lias  no  harbor, 
but  vessels  anchor  in  what  is  called  the  roadstead.  Looking 
from  the  sea  at  the  town,  it  is  not  very  imposing.  It  lies  on  a 
level  strip  of  land,  and  is  stretched  along  the  beach,  and  the 
houses  are  almost  hidden  by  the  foliage.  Groves  of  cocoa-nut 
trees  are  to  be  seen,  which  give  the  place  a  tropical  look. 

We  had  considerable  difficulty  in  pr  jcuring  a  suitable  place  to 
stop.  There  was  a  hotel  and  some  boarding  houses ;  but  we  could 
not  live  at  any  of  them  verj'  long,  for  our  funds  were  low.  We 
secured  a  native  house  of  one  room,  at  a  rent  of  four  dollars 
per  week. 

These  native  houses  are  built  by  putting  posts  in  the  ground, 
on  which-  a  board  is  laid  as  a  plate  for  the  rafters  to  rest  upon. 
When  the  frame  of  posts  and  rafters  is  built,  poles,  about  the 
size  of  hoop-poles,  are  lashed  horizontally,  about  six  inches  apart, 
on  to  the  posts  and  rafters.  The  house  is  then  thatched  by  fasten- 
ing a  durable  grass,  which  they  have  in  that  countiy,  on  to  the 
poles.  When  finished,  a  house  looks,  in  shape  and  size,  like  a 
well  built  hay  stack. 

Such  houses  are  only  suited  to  a  warm  country  where  they 
never  have  frost.  Inside  the  house  they  have  no  board  floors. 
The  ground  is  covered  with  grass,  on  which  mats  are  laid.  The 
making  of  these  mats  constitutes  one  of  the  chief  emplojTuents 
of  the  women,  and  a  good  housewife  in  that  countrj''  is  known  by 
the  quantity  and  fineness  of  the  mats  in  her  home.  Such  a  wo- 
man is  very  particular  to  have  no  dirt  brought  into  her  house ;  for 
the  mats  answer  the  purpose  of  beds,  tables  and  chairs.  They 
sit  upon  them ;  when  they  eat,  their  food  is  placed  upon  them, 


INTERVIEWING   MEN   OF  INFLUENCE.  21 

and  they  form  their  bed,  though  m  many  houses  they  have  the 
place  of  sleeping  raised  above  the  ordinarj-  floor ;  but  even  then, 
they  have  mats  spread  out,  upon  which  to  sleep. 

In  consideration  of  our  being  white  men,  the  man  of  whom  we 
rented  the  house  procured  a  table  and  three  chairs  for  us.  We 
employed  him  to  cook  our  food,  which  consisted  principally  of 
sweet  potatoes  and  fish,  or  meat,  with  occasionally  a  little  bread, 
bought  at  a  bakery  in  toAni.  In  those  daj^s  no  native  thought 
of  using  bread  as  an  article  of  diet.  Their  food  I  shall  describe 
more  fidl.v  to  you  in  a  future  chapter. 

"We  had  an  inten  iew  with  the  American  consul,  ]NIr.  Bunker, 
and  solicited  through  him  an  introduction  to  the  governor  of  the 
Island.  He  readily  oomj^lied  with  our  request,  and  in  our  inter- 
course with  3Ir.  Bunker  he  treated  us  verj^  kindly. 

Our  mission  we  felt  to  be  of  such  importance  that  we  wished 
to  introduce  it  to  the  highest  authority  we  could  find.  I  made  it 
a  rule  on  those  islands  never  to  go  into  a  place  without  waiting 
upon  the  leading  and  prominent  men,  stating  my  business,  testi- 
fying  to  the  work  which  God  had  commenced  and  asking  their 
aid  to  enable  me  to  lay  the  proclamation  of  which  I  was  the  bear- 
er before  the  people.  In  this  way  I  had  interviews  with  princes, 
nobles,  governors,  officers  of  the  government,  missionaries  and 
the  leading  men  in  erery  locality  where  I  visited. 

This  course  might  not  be  a  wise  one  in  every  nation  and  under 
all  circumstances ;  but  I  was  led  to  take  it  there,  and  the  effects 
were  good.  I  had  a  fearlessness  and  a  strength  given  me  which 
I  would  not  have  had  if  I  had  kept  myself  in  a  corner,  and  acted 
as  though  I  was  ashamed  of  my  mission.  I  gained  influence  also 
with  the  people,  and  they  learned  to  respect  me ;  for,  however 
much  men  may  differ  in  their  views  about  religion  and  other 
matters,  they  generally  respect  sincerity  and  courage. 

The  governor  was  named  James  Young.  Tie  was  a  half-white, 
his  father  being  a  friend  of  Kamehameha  the  First,  and  one  of 
the  first  white  men  who  settled  among  the  Ilawaiians.  We 
requested  the  use  of  the  palace,  which  was  not  then  occupied  by 
the  royal  family,  to  preach  in.  He  promised  to  write  to  his 
brother,  the  minister  of  the  interior,  about  it.  We  called  a  num- 
ber of  times  afterwards  to  see  him  ;  but  could  get  no  definite 


22  MY  PIR9T  >nSSION. 

answer.     It  was  very  evident  to  us  tliat  he  dare  not  grant  us 
any  favors. 

Rev.  Mr.  Taj'lor  was  the  chaplain  of  the  Bethel  Chapel  at 
Lahaina,  where  seamen  and  most  of  the  white  residents  went  to 
worship.  We  introduced  ourselves  to  him,  told  him  where  we 
were  from  and  our  business,  and  asked  the  privilege  of  holding 
meeting  in  his  chapel.  He  held  meetings  in  the  morning  and 
evening.  He  consented,  and  gave  out  notic'e  to  the  people  in  the 
morning  that  we  would  hold  meeting  in  the  afternoon.  Elder 
Henry  W.  Bigler  delivered  the  discourse,  and  Brother  Keeler 
and  I  bore  testimony.  We  soon  became  satisfied  that  if  we  con- 
fined our  labors  to  the  whites,  our  mission  to  those  islands  would 
be  a  short  •ne. 

The  white  people  were  not  numerous  at  Lahaina,  and  there 
were  but  very  few  at  any  other  place  on  the  island  of  Maui. 
Preaching  to  them  with  the  hope  of  convincing  them  of  the  truth 
seemed  a  hopeless  labor.  The  question  arose  directly,  '  'Shall 
we  confine  our  labors  to  the  white  people?"  It  is  true  that  we 
had  not  been  particularly  told  to  preach  to  the  natives  of  the 
islands,  but  we  were  in  their  midst,  had  full  authority  to  declare 
unto  them  the  message  of  salvation,  and  if  we  did  not  declare 
it  unto  them,  some  other  Elders  would  have  to  come  and  do  se, 
in  order  to  fulfill  the  command  of  Grod  to  his  servants. 

For  my  part  I  felt  it  to  be  clearly  my  duty  to  warn  all  men, 
white  and  red ;  and  no  sooner  did  I  learn  the  condition  of  the 
population  than  I  made  up  my  mind  td  acquire  the  language, 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  natives  and  to  the  whites  whenever  I  could 
obtain  an  opportunity,  and  thus  fill  my  mission.  I  felt  resolved 
to  stay  there,  master  the  language  and  warn  the  people  of  those 
islands,  if  I  had  to  do  it  alone ;  for  I  felt  that  I  could  not  do 
otherwise  and  be  free  from  condemnation ;  the  spirit  of  it  was 
upon  me.     Elders  Bigler  and  Keeler  felt  the  same. 

I  mention  this,  because  it  was  a  point  upon  which  a  difference 
of  opinion  afterwards  arose,  some  of  the  Elders  being  of  the 
opinion  that  our  mission  was  to  the  whites,  and  that  when 
we  had  warned  them,  we  were  at  hberty  to  return.  How  do  you 
think  such  differences  of  views  and  opinions  can  be  settled? 
Had  the  president  of  the  mission  exercised  the  authority  to  dic- 
tate, he  could  have  decided  between  these  views ;  but  he  would 


GIFT  OF   INTERPRl-rrATION   RECEIVED.  23 

not.  He  left  eiu-h  one  to  act  for  himself.  We  were  in  a  foreign 
land,  far  distant  from  the  Apostles  and  First  Presidency,  and, 
therefore,  could  nt)t  ai)i)eal  to  them.  Our  onl\-  resource  was  to 
obtain  revelation  from  the  Lord  fur  ourselves.  This  is  the  privi- 
lege of  every  man  and  woman  in  the  Church.  If  Latter-day 
Saints  will  seek  for  knowledge,  (.Jod  will  give  it  to  them  to  guide 
them  in  all  the  details  of  life,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  presiding 
authority  and  its  teachings  and  counsels.  By  this  means  we  were 
able,  on  the  Sandwich  Islands,  to  know  what  course  to  take. 

White  men  who  go  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  do  not  always 
behave  themselves  as  they  should.  We  saw  some  who  acted 
most  disgracefully.  Tliey  seemed  to  think  that,  because  they 
were  among  the  natives,  they  could  abandon  all  decency.  The 
natives  are  very  close  observers.  They  soon  saw  that  we  were 
not  like  many  of  the  whites  whom  they  had  seen,  and  they  began 
to  take  an  interest  in  us.  They  readily  helped  us  to  pronounce 
and  read  their  laniruatre.  The  want  of  books  was  a  great  draw- 
back  at  first ;  but  we  sent  to  Honolulu  for  them. 

My  desire  t©  learn  to  speak  was  very  strong ;  it  was  present 
with  me  night  and  day,  and  I  never  permitted  an  opportunity  of 
talking  with  the  natives  to  pass  without  improving  it.  I  also 
tried  to  exercise  faith  before  the  Lord  to  obtam  the  gift  of  talk- 
ing and  undei-standing  the  language.  One  evening,  while  sit- 
ting on  the  mats  conversing  w^th  some  neighbors  who  had  drop- 
ped in,  I  felt  an  uncommonly  great  desire  to  understand  what 
they  said.  All  at  once  I  felt  a  peculiar  sensation  in  my  ears ; 
I  jumped  to  my  feet,  with  my  hands  at  the  sides  of  my  head, 
and  exclaimed  to  Elders  Bigler  and  Keeler  who  sat  at  the  table, 
that  I  beheved  I  had  received  the  gift  of  interpretation !  And 
it  was  so. 

From  that  time  fonvard  I  had  but  little,  if  any,  difficulty  in 
understanding  what  the  people  said.  I  might  not  be  able  at 
once  to  separate  every  word  which  they  spoke  from  every  other 
word  in  the  sentence ;  but  I  could  tell  the  general  meaning  of  the 
whole.  This  was  a  great  aid  to  me  in  learning  to  speak  the 
language,  and  I  felt  Yer>'  thankful  for  this  gift  from  the  Lord. 

I  mention  this  that  my  readers  may  know  how  willing  God  is 
to  bestow  gifts  upon  his  children.  If  they  should  be  called  to  go 
as  missionaries  to  a  foreign  nation,  whose  language  they  do  not 


24  MT  FIRST  ^nSSION. 

understaud,  it  is  their  privilege  to  exercise  faith  for  the  gifts  of 
speaking  and  interpreting  that  language,  and  also  for  everj'  other 
gift;  which  they  may  need. 


^  I      o      « » 


CHAPTER    V. 

KINDNESS    OF    NA-LI>IA-NUI — TO    HONOLULU — SOME    OF     THE 
ELDERS  DECIDE  TO   RETURN  HOjVIE. 

A  LITTLE  more  than  three  weeks  had  passed  when  our  money 
,  was  paid  out  except  a  verj^  little.  Much  as  we  disliked  the 
idea,  it  seemed  necessarj^  for  us  to  separate  and  seek  places  to  live 
where  we  could  find  them  among  the  natives.  We  cast  lots  to 
learn  which  direction  we  should  take.  Elder  Henry  W.  Bigler 
drew  south ;  Elder  James  Keeler,  east ;  and  I,  north. 

I  had  explained  our  position  to  the  man  of  whom  we  rented 
the  house.  Of  course  my  explanations  were  not  perfect,  for  three 
weeks'  residence  had  not  made  us  masters  of  the  language  ;  but 
he  comprehended  the  situation  exactly.  He  went  to  a  neigh- 
boring house,  where  the  family  lived  who  had  done  our  washing, 
and  who  had  been  very  friendly  and  kind,  and  told  the  lady  how 
matters  stood  with  us.  She  came  in ;  but  we  were  so  busy  making 
our  arrangements  to  start  out  that  we  did  not  converse  with  her, 
and  she  went  away  again. 

Brother  Bigler  started  off  in  the  direction  which  had  fallen  to 
him,  with  a  piece  of  paper  in  his  hand,  on  which  sentences  in 
native,  such  as  he  would  be  Hkely  to  need,  were  written,  with  their 
meaning  in  English.  Brother  Keeler  and  myself  were  preparing 
to  go  in  the  directions  which  had  fallen  to  us,  when  Brother 
Keeler  suggested  that  we  call  upon  Na-lima-nui,  the  old  lady  of 
whom  I  have  spoken.  Our  object  was  to  learn  from  her,  if  we 
could,  who  there  was  that  would  be  likely  to  entertain  strangers. 

"Na-lima-nui' '  means  in  the  language  of  the  Sandwich  Islands 
"big  hands. ' '  Lima  is  the  noun  hand,  nuiis  the  adjective  large 
or  hig,  and  na  is  the  sign  of  the  plural.  You  see  it  is  a  differently 
constructed  language  to  ours.      The  sign  of  the  plural  precedes 


NA-LIMA-Nin's   KIND   OFFER.  25 

the  noun,  and  the  qualfving  adjective  follows  it,  as  "liands  large 
or  big." 

Na-lima-nui  did  not  know  where  we  could  find  a  man  who  coidd 
entertain  us ;  but  she  said  we  were  welcome  to  come  and  live  in 
her  house.  We  had  along  talk  with  her,  and  I  endeavored  to 
explain  our  position  and  what  our  business  was  in  coming  to  the 
Islands.  We  had  no  money,  I  said,  but  anything  that  we  did 
have,  we  should  be  glad  to  give  her.  AVe  felt  humble,  and  would 
have  been  plea.sed  to  obtain  a  corner  on  the  ilijor  to  sleep  in,  so 
that  we  could  live,  learn  the  language  and  fill  our  mission. 

The  kindness  of  this  old  lady  touched  me.  and  I  could  not  refrain 
from  weeping.  Never  before  in  my  life  did  I  feel  so  thankful  as 
I  did  for  the  shelter  she  offered.  I  praised  the  Lord  therefor; 
it  was  He  who  touched  the  heart  of  herself  and  family. 

The  thought  that  we  would  not  have  to  separate  added  to  our 
joy,  and  you  can  probably  imagine  with  what  delight  we  went  to 
find  Brother  Bigler.  He  had  succeeded  in  finding  a  native  who 
was  willing  to  give  him  food  and  a  lodging  place,  if  he  would 
milk  his  cow  and  do  other  chores.  He  was  as  much  rejoiced  as 
we  to  leani  that  we  could  live  together. 

We  did  not  expect  to  get  any  more  accommodations  than  a 
place  to  stretch  ourselves  at  night  in  our  blankets ;  but  Na-lima- 
nui's  daughter,  who  was  married  to  a  Spaniard,  lived  adjoining; 
and  she  had  arranged  for  her  mother  to  hve  in  her  rooms,  and 
the  old  lady's  room  had  been  prepared  for  us.  They  had  fixed  up 
the  room  as  well  as  they  could. 

Such  a  profound  feeling  of  thankfulness  as  I  had  on  our  obtain- 
ing a  shelter  in  this  iX)or,  native  woman's  hut  I  never  experi- 
enced before.  ' 

It  has  been  my  fortune,  since  those  early  days  of  my  life,  to 
travel  considerably,  and  to  mingle  with  our  missionaries  in  many 
liwids.  I  have  seen  Elders  who  were  willing  to  endure  everjihing 
for  the  gospel's  sake  ;  their  hearts  were  filled  with  joy  and  a  burn- 
ing desire  to  magnify  their  Priesthood  and  to  fill  their  mi.ssioiK. 
What  they  ate  or  drank,  where  they  Icjdged  or  how  they  were 
clothed,  weremattersof  little  or  no  thought  tothem.solong  as  they 
had  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  and  were  in  the  line  of  duty.  ( )thei-s, 
I  have  seen,  who  felt  every  little  privati«jn  to  be  a  dreadful  hard- 
ship ;  who  thought,  if  everything  did  not  go  smoothly  with  them, 
J* 


26  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

tliey  had  to  suffer  more  than  was  necessarj* ,  and  who  were  readj' 
to  desert  their  fields  of  labor  and  run  home  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. 

I  scarcely  need  say  that  men  of  this  latter  class  are  rarely,  if 
ever,  successful  missionaries.  They  think  too  much  of  their  own 
ease  and  comfort,  and  their  thoughts  are  too  much  upon  them- 
selves, to  labor  under  any  circumstances  of  difiiculty  for  the  salva- 
tion of  othei-s.  When  an  Elder  has  the  spirit  of  his  mission, 
self-comfort,  is  forgotten.  He  is  perfectly  happy  in  declaring  the 
gospel  and  laboring  for  the  salvation  of  others,  and  he  gives  but 
little  thought  to  the  kind  of  food  he  eats,  or  how  he  fares  in  other 
respects.  His  bodily  wants  are  swallowed  up  in  his  joy  in 
Christ. 

These  were  our  feelings  at  the  time  of  which  I  write.  We 
were  willing  to  live  on  any  food  that  would  sustain  our  bodies, 
however  common  or  even  disagreeable  it  might  be ;  we  were  glad 
to  get  a  shelter,  however  humble,  to  lie  under ;  our  desire  was 
to  fill  our  mission :  and  because  we  felt  thus,  the  Lord  made  up 
for  any  lack  of  comfort  by  giving  us  His  Holy  Spirit. 

I  had  never  been  so  happ3'  in  my  life  before  as  I  was  then. 
When  I  prayed  I  could  go  unto  Grod  in  faith ;  He  listened  to 
my  prayers;  He  gave  me  great  comfort  and  joy ;  He  revealed 
Himself  to  me  as  He  never  had  done  before,  and  told  me  that 
if  I  would  persevere,  I  should  be  blessed,  be  the  means  of  bring- 
ing many  to  the  knowledge  of  the  tmth,  and  be  spared  to  return 
home  after  having  done  a  good  work. 

Many  things  were  revealed  to  me,  during  those  daj^s,  when  He 
was  the  only  Friend  we  had  to  lean  upon,  which  were  afterwards 
falfilled.  A  friendship  was  there  established  between  bur  Father 
and  myself,  which,  I  trust,  will  never  be  broken  nor  diminished, 
and  which  I  hope  has  continued  to  grow  strynger  from  those 
days  to  these.  ^ 

It  is  not  mv  custom  to  write  thus  freelv  about  mvself ;  but  I  am 
WTlting  for  children  to  read,  upon  whom  I  would  like  my  experi- 
ence to  make  an  impression.  I  desire  that  they  should  make 
God  their  friend,  and  seek  unto  Him  with  faith  for  that  joy, 
peace  and  perfect  love  which  He  alone  can  give. 

Shortl}'  after  we  moved  into  the  house  of  Xa-lima-nui,  I  was 
called  by  letter  to  go  up  to-Honolidu.    The  partner  of  the  pres- 


FT.DERS   DISCOURAGED.  27 

idcnt  of  the  mission  had  conduded  to  return  home,  and  I  was 
requested  to  remove  to  Honohdu  to  act  in  his  place. 

This  was  unexj)ected  news  to  me.  and  my  parting  from  my 
companions  was  nearly  as  painful  as  leaving  home  had  been. 
Besides  the  Elder  of  whose  pro})osed  dejjarture  I  had  heard,  I 
found  there  two  othei-s — to  whom  the  island  of  Kauai  had 
fallen  as  a  field  of  lalx)r — ready  to  return  home. 

There  were  but  few  whites  on  that  island,  and  to  them  they 
had  preached,  but  had  received  no  encouragement.  They  had 
written  to  the  president  of  the  missi<jn,  describing  the 
situation  of  affairs,  and  he  had  counseled  them  to  come  to 
Honolulu. 

The  idea  of  leaving  the  islands,  because  there  were  not  enough 
white  men  to  preach  the  gospel  to,  was  so  foreign  to  the  minds 
of  my  companions  on  ]Maui,  and  to  myself,  that  when  I  heard 
these  Eldei*s  were  there  with  the  intention  of  returning  home, 
I  was  surprised. 

I  did  not  conceal  my  feelings  from  them;  I  told  them  that  1 
could  not  go  home  under  existing  circumstances,  without  feeling 
condemned.  The  Lord,  in  my  opinion,  I  said,  w^ould  hold  mc 
accountable  for  not  doing  my  duty  to  that  people,  if  I  were  to 
leave  them ;  and  the  people  might  rise  up  in  judgment  against 
me  at  some  future  day,  for  not  having  given  them  the  privilege 
of  hearing  the  truth.  ^ly  prayer  was  that  the  time  might 
speedily  come  when  all  should  know  the  Lord,  and  when  His 
knowledge  would  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  covered  the 
deep;  and  I  believed  in  uniting  works  and  faith.  It  would 
sound  badly  for  ten  Elders  to  be  sent  out  to  the  islands 
by  Elder  Charles  C.  Rich,  one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  to 
preach  and  to  act  as  the  Spirit  and  circumstances  might  dic- 
tate, and  when  we  found  there  were  not  whites  that  would  receive 
us,  turn  around  and  go  home,  and  leave  a  wh<»le  nation  to  wel- 
ter in  ignorance,  because  he  did  not«happen  to  tell  us  that  we  were 
to  preach  to  them  in  their  own  tongue.  31uch  more  in  this  strain 
I  was  led  to  say,  wdiich  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  here. 

Brother  Whittle  had  been  told  by  Elder  Rich  that  he  could 
return  home  after  filling  a  short  mission.  The  president  of  the 
mission  had  done  all  the  preaching  at  the  meetings  they  had  held, 
and  had  not  even  given  him  an  opportunity  to  bear  his  testimony. 


28  MY  FIRST.  3nSSI0N. 

His  position  had  been,  and  still  was  unpleasant ;  and  he  s^w  no 
way  to  remedy  it.  If  he  could  do  any  good,  he  was  willing  to 
stay ;  but  he  thought  that,  under  his  circumstances,  it  was 
useless. 

Brother  Willam  Farrer,  one  of  the  Elders  who  had  been  labor- 
ing on  Kauai,  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  not  return  home, 
but  stop  and  devote  himself  to  acquiring  the  language.  His 
partner,  however,  would  not  stop.  He  was  bent  upon  returning. 
Being  an  intimate  acquaintance,  I  talked  freel}-  with  him  upon 
the  subject.  He  would  go  home,  he  said,  and  gladly  take  a 
mission  to  Europe,  if  he  should  be  appointed ;  but  to  labor  there 
he  could  not  with  anj'  pleasure.  Besides,  he  was  an  old  bache- 
lor, he  added,  and  he  ought  to  be  married,  and  so  he  would  return 
home  and  take  him  a  wife.  He  did  return  home ;  but,  poor 
fellow,  he  never  obtained  a  wife.  Some  time  after  his  return,  he, 
with  some  other  brethren,  left  the  city  to  go  to  Parley's  Park  for 
lumber.  On  their  return  they  were  ambushed  by  Indians,  and 
he  was  killed. 

I  often  asked  myself,  after  hearing  of  his  death,  would  it  not 
have  been  better  for  him  if  he  had  remained  ?  For  if  he  had,  I 
believe  he  would  have  still  been  living. 


I   RETURN  TO   MAUI.  29 


CHAPTER    VI. 

I  RKTURN  TO  >L\.UI — WE  ARE  VISITED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  HUSSION,  WHO  DETERMINES  TO  GO  TO  THE  MARQtrE- 
SAS  ISLANDS — WE  DO  NOT  FEEL  LED  TO  GO  WITH  HIM — 
"POI,"  ITS  PREPARATION  AND  PECULIARITIES. 

npHE  ])ro.£rress  I  had  iinide  iu  learning  the  language  surprised 
■*-  the  Elders  at  Honolulu.  I  was  able  to  converse  tolerably 
well  with  the  natives,  and  understand  what  they  said.  When 
they  learned  how  the  Lord  had  opened  our  way  and  aided  us  in 
acquiring  the  language,  they  felt  that  it  might  be  wisdom  for  me 
to  continue  my  labors  there,  instead  of  removing  to  Honolulu. 
This,  after  counseling  together,  was  the  decision  of  the  president. 

I  was  much  gratified  at  the  privilege  of  returning  to  Maui ; 
for,  to  my  view,  prospects  for  accomplishing  any  great  amount  of 
good  were  not  ver>-  bright  then  at  Honolulu. 

Elder  William  Fan-er  sailed  with  me  to  Maui,  to  be  a  partner 
to  Henry  W.  Bigler. 

We  had  scarcely  reached  Lahaina,  when  Elder  Hiram  Black- 
well  called  upon  us  fi-oni  the  Island  of  Hawaii,  where  he  had  been 
with  Elder  James  Hawkins.  He  was  on  his  way  to  Honolulu, 
and  expected,  if  it  was  not  contrary  to  counsel,  to  return  home. 
He  \Mas  discouraged  in  trj-ing  to  learn  the  language  and  preach 
to  the  natives.  He  reached  Honolulu  in  time  to  return  with  the 
other  Elders. 

At  this  point  I  may  anticipate  the  order  of  my  narrative  by 
stating  that  Elder  James  Hawkins,  Brother  Blackwell"  s  partner, 
remained  on  Hawaii  for  some  time,  striving  to  acquire  the 
language,  and  to  proclaim  the  gospel  to  the  people.  He  afterwards 
came  up  to  Maui  and  labored  there,  and  filled  a  good  mission 
before  he  returned  home. 

About  three  weeks  after  my  return  from  Honolulu,  we  were 
suq^ised  at  receiving  a  visit  from  the  president  of  the  mission. 


30  MY  FmST  MISSION. 

He  had  concluded  to  leave  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  go  to  the 
Marquesas  Islands ;  for  he  thought  there  was  a  better  field  there. 

These  latter  islands,  30°  south  of  where  we  were  then,  are 
inhabited  bv  a  race  of  people  whose  language  is  very  similar  to 
that  spoken  by  the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  They  are 
probably  descendants  of  one  common  stock.  But  they  are  naturally 
more  fierce  and  savage  than  the  Sandwich  Islanders.  It  is 
said  of  some  of  them,  that  when  they  are  engaged  in  war,  they 
have  no  objections  to  eating  a  piece  of  a  roasted  man ;  indeed, 
they  rather  relish  such  a  meal  at  such  times,  as  they  think  it 
makes  them  brave. 

Our  president's  principal  motive  in  coming  to  see  us  was  to 
have  us  go  with  hhn.  If  prospects  were  no  better  on  Maui  than 
on  the  island  he  had  been  on,  he  thought  we  should  accompany 
him.  It  was  not  from  any  fear  that  the  people  of  the  Marquesas 
group  would  eat  us,  that  we  did  not  fall  in  with  his  proposal ; 
but  because  we  could  not  see  the^  propriety  of  it. 

Our  position,  just  then,  was  a  peculiar  one.  Here  was  our 
president,  the  man  who  had  been  appointed  to  counsel  and  guide 
us,  proposing  to  us  to  leave  the  field  to  which  we  had  been  ap- 
pointed, and  to  take  a  journey  of  several  hundred  miles  to  another 
land  to  labor.  What  were  we  to  do  ?  How  far  did  the  obedience 
which  we  owed  to  him  require  us  to  go  ?  This  was  an  important 
question.  To  disobey  a  man  in  the  rightful  exercise  of  authority, 
was  an  act  from  which  we  naturally  recoiled  ;  and  an  act,  too,  of 
which  we  were  not  in  the  least  disposed  to  be  guilty.  But  we 
felt  that  it  would  not  be  right  for  us  to  leave  that  island  then. 

We  had  done  but  little  at  warning  the  people,  or  accomplishing 
our  mission,  and  why  leave  them  then,  any  more  than  on  the 
first  day  that  we  landed  ?  We  had  not  been  appointed  by  the 
authority,  which  called  him  and  us,  to  go  to  the  Marquesas  Is- 
lands ;  we  knew  of  no  opening  there,  or  of  anj'  reason  why  we 
should  go  there  in  preference  to  any  other  place  on  the  earth. 
If  we  followed  our  president  there,  because  he  told  us  to  come 
with  him,  and  we  should  find  no  opening  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel, why  not  follow  him  to  some  other  country-  if  he  should  so 
require  us  ? 

Fortunately  we  were  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  refusing  to 
comply  with  his  counsel.     He  felt  plainly  enough  that  his  pro- 


ANXIETY  TO   PREACH.  31 

posal  did  not  strike  iis  favorably.  He  had  not  been  many  hours 
with  us  until  he  found  this  out;  and  he  told  us  that  probably  it 
would  be  better  for  us  to  remain  where  we  were  until  we  gave 
the  people  a  fair  trial;  and  then,  if  we  could  not  do  anjlhing, 
we  could  follow  him,  as  he  intended  to  write  to  us  respecting  his 
success.  The  tii-st  we  heard  from  him,  he  had  drifted  down  to 
Tahiti,  on  the  Society  Islands,  where  some  of  our  EMers  were 
then  laboring.  His  mission,  however,  was  of  no  profit  to  him- 
self 

When  an  Elder  has  the  spirit  of  his  mission,  he  cannot  rest 
contented  unless  he  is  proclaiming  to  the  peojile  the  message  with 
which  he  is  entrusted.  Surround  him  with  every  comfort  his 
heart  can  desire,  and  if  he  has  that  spirit,  he  will  still  be  anxious 
to  go  forth  among  the  peo])le,  even  if  he  knows  he  will  meet 
with  privations  and  pei*secution.  This  was  my  feeling  before  the 
visit  of  the  president  of  the  mission,  and  after  he  left,  my  anxiety 
increased,  and  I  told  the  brethren  that  I  must  push  out  among 
the  natives,  and  commence  preaching  to  them  as  well  as  I  could. 
I  had  made  very  good  progress  in  the  language,  and  felt  able 
to  explain  in  part  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel. 

About  a  week  after  the  president's  visit  I  started  oflP,  intend- 
ing, if  I  did  not  get  an  opening,  to  go  around  the  island.  But 
the  Lord  had  revealed  to  me  that  I  would  find  a  people  prepared 
to  receive  the  truth;  and  I  started  as  a  man  would  who  was 
going  to  meet  his  friends.  Though  I  had  never  seen  them  in 
the  flesli,  I  knew  that  when  I  met  them  they  woiild  not  be  stran- 
gers unto  me. 

Borrowing  Brother  Bigler's  valise,  one  which  he  had  carried 
many  a  day  himself  while  on  a  mission  in  the  States,  I  started, 
feoling  as  proud  of  the  privilege  of  swinging  it  across  my  shoulder 
as  any  knight  ever  was  at  wearing,  for  the  first  time,  his  gold 
spurs. 

The  great  desire  of  my  heart  from  my  early  boyhood  had  been 
to  have  the  Priesthood  and  the  privilege  of  preaching  the  gos- 
pel. This  desire  was  now  about  to  be  gratified,  and  though  I 
was  timid  and  very  bashful,  I  felt  that  God  would  carry  me 
safely  through. 

The  brethren  accompanied  me  about  four  miles  on  my  way. 
We  were  far  from  all  our  friends,  and  were  strangers  in  a  strange 


32  MY  FIRST  inSSION. 

land ;  our  parting,  tlierefore,  as  miglit  be  expected,  was  painfuL 
They  remained  to  continue  tlieir  stud\'  of  the  language. 

It  was  plain  to  me  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  was  with  me ; 
for  at  whatever  place  I  stopped,  I  was  received  most  kindly,  and 
the  best  the  people  had  was  at  my  service. 

The  principal  food  of  the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  is 
called  poi.  This  is  made  out  of  a  root  which  they  call  halo. 
'  'Kalo  '  patches  are  so  made  that  they  can  be  flooded  with  water ; 
and  the  ground  is  never  allowed  to  be  uncovered.  In  plant- 
ing this  root  thev  do  not  use  seed.  When  a  native  gathei*8  the 
'  'kalo, ' '  he  carries  it  to  his  home,  where  he  cuts  off  the  tops. 
These  are  careftillj'  saved,  tied  up  in  a  bundle,  and  earned  back 
to  the  patch.  These  tops  he  sticks  in  the  mud  at  the  proper 
distances  apart,  and  at  the  end  of  about  eleven  months  he  has 
another  crop  of  '  "kalo. ' '  This  is  the  process  of  gathering  and 
planting. 

T*he  ■  "kalo' "  bears  some  resemblance  in  its  leaves  and  taste  to 
the  wild  Indian  turnips,  but  its  root  is  much  larger ;  not  quite 
the  shape  of  a  tame  turnip,  but  as  large  as  a  moderate  sized  one. 
There  is  a  variety  called  the  '  'iky  land  kalo. "  It  is  not  so  exten- 
sively cultivated  as  the  other  kind,  and  is  not  considered  so  good 
eating. 

Near  ever}^  house  there  is  a  circular  hole.  When  ''kalo"  is 
to  be  cooked,  a  fire  is  built  in  this,  and  a  quantity  of  small  vol- 
canic rocks  are  piled  on  top  of  it.  As  the  fire  burns  out  these 
sink  to  the  bottom,  and  they  are  spread  over  the  bottom  and 
around  the  sides  of  the  pit.  The  'kalo'  roots  are  then  laid  in, 
mats  are  spread  over  them,  than  soil,  until  they  are  completely 
covered,  excepting  a  small  hole  at  the  top,  into  which  water  is 
poured.     That  hole  is  then  stopped,  and  the  cooking  commenced. 

"But  how  do  thej'  cook?"  j'ou  may  ask. 

When  the  water  is  poured  in,  the  rocks,  being  hot,  speedily 
convert  it  into  steam,  and,  as  it  cannot  escape,  it  cooks  the  roots. 

I  have  seen  large  hogs  cooked  in  this  way.  and  meat  is  sweeter 
cooked  in  this  fashion  than  by  any  other  method  I  know 
anji^hing  about.  The  native  men  on  the  Islands  do  all  the  cook- 
ing. 

When  the  "kalo"  has  been  in  long  enough  to  cook,  it  is 
uncovered ;  the  skin  is  washed  off,  and  it  is  pounded  with  a  stone 


MANNER    OF   RATINO    "POI.  33 

pestle,  oil  a  large  flat  slab  of  wood,  until  it  is  like  a  mass  oi* 
dough.  Then  it  is  put  int«j  a  calabash,  or  gourd,  and  by  the  next 
day  fermentation  has  eonimenced;  or,  as  wewouldsayif  it  were 
bread,  it  has  ''raised."  Water  is  then  added  to  it.  and  it  is 
mixed  until  it  is  a  little  thinner  than  we  usually  make  mush. 
There  is  a  little  sour  taste  about  it  the  first  day.  But  it  is  never 
eaten  at  that  time  by  the  natives,  unless  they  have  no  other  food. 
They  like  it  best  when  it  is  (piite  sour.  This  is  what  they  call 
"poi."  and  there  is  no  other  food  that  they  think  can  equal  it. 

Their  usual  method  of  eating  is  worthy  of  iKjtice.  A  large 
calabash  of  "poi"  is  placed  on  the  mats;  around  this  the  family 
seat  themselves. 

In  families  where  they  make  any  })retensions  to  cleanliness,  a 
small  calabash  of  water  is  passed  arouud,  and  each  one  rinses  his 
or  her  fingers  before  commencing  to  eat. 

To  keep  off  the  flies,  a  boy  or  a  girl  stands  waving  a  kahili, 
which  is  made  by  fastening  feathers  to  a  long,  slender  stick. 

In  eating,  they  dip  their  first  two  fingers  into  the  calabash, 
load  them  with  the  "poi,"  and  pass  them  into  their  mouths. 
The  sucking  of  the  fingers,  the  gusto  with  which  they  eat,  and 
the  incessant  conversation  mingled  with  laughter  which  they  keep 
up,  would  lead  a  bystander  to  conclude  that  they  enjoy  their  food. 
And  they  do.  If  the  "poi"  be  good,  and  they  have  plenty  of 
fish  or  meat  to  eat  with  it,  they  have  great  pleasure  in  eating. 
They  think  w^hite  men  who  eat  together  without  conversing  very 
unsocial  beings.  They  have  an  idea  that  it  contributes  to  health, 
and  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  food  to  have  pleasant  and  lively  con- 
versation while  eating. 

Before  leaving  Lahaina,  I  had  tasted  a  teaspoonful  of  "]»oi ;" 
but  the  smell  of  it  and  the  calabash  in  which  it  was  contained 
was  so  much  like  that  of  a  book-binder's  old.  sour,  paste- pot  that 
when  I  put  it  to  my  mouth  I  gagged  at  it.  and  would  have  vom- 
ited had  I  swallowed  it.  But  in  traveling  anting  the  peojjle  I 
soon  learned  that  if  I  did  not  eat  "poi"  1  would  put  them  to 
great  inconvenience;  for  they  would  have  to  cook  separate  food 
for  me  every  meal.  This  would  make  me  burdensome  to  them, 
and  might  interfere  with  my  success.  I,  therefore,  determined 
to  learn  to  live  on  their  food,  and,  that  I  might  do  so,  I  asked 
the  Lord  to  make  it  sweet  to  me.     My  prayer  was  heard  and 

1 


34  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

answered ;  the  next  time  I.  tasted  it,  I  ate  a  bowlfiil,  and  I  posi- 
tively liked  it.  It  was  my  food,  whenever  I  could  get  it  from 
that  time  as  long  as  I  remained  on  the  islands. 

It  may  sound  strange,  yet  it  is  true,  that  I  have  sat  down  to  a 
table  on  which  bread  was  placed,  and  though  I  had  not  tasted 
the  latter  for  months,  I  took  the  "poi  '  in  preference  to  the  bread ; 
it  was  sweeter  to  me  than  any  food  I  had  ever  eaten. 


^»      ^      «» 


CHAPITER    VII. 

START  ON  A  TOUR  AROUND  THE  ISLAND — ARRIVE  AT  WAI- 
LUKU — IN  A  REilARKABLE  JLINNER  BECOME  ACQUAINTED 
WITH  J.  H.  NAPELA. 

IT  was  during  a  very  wet  season  that  I  told  the  people  I  was 
going  around  the  island.  They  thought  it  a  great  undertak- 
ing, and  tried  to  persuade  me  not  to  go.  I  evidentlj"  had  their 
sj^mpathies ;  I  was  boyish-looking,  and  they  called  me  a  keiki^ 
which  in  their  language  literally  means  "a  child." 

Manv  times  as  I  traveled  alonsr  thev  would  take  mv  valise  from 
me  and  carry  it ;  and  when  I  came  to  a  stream  of  water,  they 
would  pack  me  across  it. 

I  passed  through  a  number  of  villages,  over  a  very  rough,  hilly 
country,  and  late  one  night  reached  the  town  of  Wailuku. 

Up  to  this  time,  though  I  had  been  treated  verj^  kindly,  I  had 
not  met  with  the  persons  whom  I  had  been  led  to  expect,  by 
the  manifestations  of  the  Spirit,  would  receive  my  testimony. 

The  main  part  of  the  town  of  Wailuku  was  on  the  other  side 
of  a  stream,  in  attempting  to  cross  which  I  got  wet. 

There  were  some  missionaries  living  here,  and  as  I  passed 
through  the  town,  I  hoped  that  I  should  get  an  opportunity  of 
being  introduced  to  them ;  for  I  had  made  it  a  rule,  thus  far, 
not  to  pass  a  missionary  without  bearing  testimony  to  him  respect- 
ing my  mission.  But  I  was  dusty  and  toil-worn,  and  felt  some 
diffidence  about  introducing  mvself 


FRIENDS   RAISED   UP   BV  THE   LORD.  35 

By  this  time  I  had  partlj'  come  to  the  eoiichisi(jn  tliat,  as  the 
weather  was  so  unfavorable  I  would  return  to  Lahaina;  and  in 
passing  through  Wailuku  I  took  a  road  which  I  thought  led  in 
that  direction.  I  had  scarcely  got  out  of  the  town  when  1  felt 
impressed  to  return,  the  Spirit  telling  me  that  if  I  would  do  so 
1  should  get  an  oi)i)(jrtunity  of  being  introduced  to  the  missionary 
who  resided  there. 

As  I  passed  the  churchyard  two  half-white  women  emerged 
from  a  house  near  bv,  and  when  thev  saw  me  thev  called  to  some 
men  who  were  in  the  house  ""E  lea  haole!  which  means,  "Oh, 
the  white  man ! "  This  they  repeated  two  or  three  times,  calling 
at  the  same  time  one  of  the  men  ])y  name. 

As  I  walked  along  towards  the  i)icket  fence,  three  men  came 
out  of  the  house,  and  stepped  up  towards  the  gate.  When  I 
got  opposite  to  them  T  saluted  them,  being  greeted  by  them  in 
return. 

I  had  passed  but  a  few  feet  when  the  leader  of  the  men  inquired 
of  me  where  I  was  going.  I  told  them  I  thought  of  return- 
ing to  Lahaina,  on  account  of  the  weather.  He  said  that  as  this 
was  Saturday,  I  had  better  stop  until  3Ionday  with  him. 

He  inquired  of  me  who  and  what  I  was,  and  upon  my  inform- 
ing him,  his  desire  to  have  me  stay  was  increased.  I  went 
into  the  house  with  him,  and,  after  some  little  conversation,  and 
an  invitation  to  eat  food,  which  he  offered,  he  i)roposed  that  we 
should  go  up  and  see  the  missionary. 

This  was  what  I  wanted,  and  I  embraccMl  his  i)roposal 
gladly. 

The  missionar}^'s  name  was  Conde  ;  he  was  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, and  had  been  sent  out  by  the  American  lioard  of  For- 
eign Missions. 

We  had  a  very  pleasant  conversation,  during  which  he  made 
many  inciuiries  respecting  Utaii.  my  object  in  coming  to  the 
islands,  and  our  belief  He  said  he  could  not  believe  anything 
in  modern  revelation  ;  but  expressed  a  wish  to  read  some  of  our 
works. 

I  lent  him  the  Voice  of  Warning,  though  I  had  little  hope  of 
it  having  any  effect  on  him,  as  he  had  condemned  the  doctrines 
before  he  had  heard  or  read  them. 


36  ytY  FIRST  MISSION. 

The  moment  I  entered  into  the  house  of  this  native  and  saw 
him  and  his  two  friends.  I  felt  convinced  that  I  had  met  the  men 
for  whom  I  had  been  looking. 

The  man  who  owned  the  house  was  a  judge,  and  a  leading 
man  in  that  section.  His  name  was  Jonatana  H.  Napela.  It 
was  he  who  visited  Salt  Lake  City  in  1866,  in  company  with 
Elder  Greorge  Nebeker.  His  companions"  names  were  Uaua  and 
Kaleohano.  They  were  all  three  afterwards  baptized  and 
ordained  to  be  Elders,  Xapela  has  since  died  in  the  faith,  and  the 
othei*s  are  still  members  of  the  Church. 

They  were  graduates  of  the  high  school  in  the  country,  fine 
speakers  and  reasoners,  and  were  men  of  standing  and  influence 
in  the  communit}'. 

Xapela  was  every  anxious  to  know  my  belief,  and  wherein  our 
doctrines  differed  from  tho.ie  taught  b}'  the  missionaries  in  their 
midst.  I  explained  to  him,  as  well  as  I  could,  our  principles, 
with  which  he  seemed  very  well  satisfied.  But  next  day  after 
the  service  in  their  church.  Mr.  Conde  called  Xapela  and  a  num- 
ber of  the  leading  men  together,  and  endeavored  to  poison  their 
minds  against  our  doctrines,  by  telling  all  kinds  of  lies  about  the 
Prophet  Joseph  and  the  people  of  Utah. 

I  learned  this  at  supper  b}'  the  inquiries  which  Xapela  and  a 
number  of  his  friends  who  were  present,  made  of  me.  Their 
questions  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  jDrove  to  me  that  somebody 
had  been  telling  them  lies.  I  afterwards  learned  that  it  was  the 
missionary's  work. 

The  Spirit  rested  powerfully  upon  me  and  I  told  them  I  had 
the  truth,  and  besought  them,  as  they  valued  their  souls,  not  to 
reject  it  until  they  could  understand  it  for  themselves;  that  I 
should  soon  be  able  to  explain  it  fully  unto  them  ;  that  the  prin- 
ciples were  contained  in  the  Bible,  and  were  eternal  truth.  Thej' 
were  melted  to  tears,  and  promised  me  that  they  would  not  decide 
that  our  principles  were  false  until  they  had  a  full  opportunity 
of  judging  for  themselves;  which  promise,  I  am  happy  to  say, 
most  of  them  kept,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  baptizing  them 
into  the  Church. 

^  I  am  particular  in  mentioning  this  circumstance  to  show  the 
boys  who  may  read  this  work  that,  when  they  go  on  missions, 
and  they  are  in  the  line  of  their  duty,  it  is  their  privilege  to  have 


•RETURN   TO    LAHAINA.  37 

revelations  from  the  Tiord  to  L'^uide  them  in  all  their  steps.  I 
was  led  to  expeet.  before  I  left  Lahaina.  that  I  would  tind  those 
who  would  receive  me.  Up  to  the  time  I  reachtvl  Wailuku.  I 
had  iKtt  found  them,  and  then  when  I  thought  it  best  to  go  luiek 
by  another  road,  and  through  other  villages,  to  Lahaina,  I  was 
told  if  1  would  return  into  Wailuku  that  I  should  obtain  my 
desire  in  getting  an  interview  with  the  missionary. 

The  half-white  women  who  saw  me  were  Xai)ela"s  wife  and 
her  sister.  There  was  something  very  remarka})le  in  their  cr>'- 
ing  out  as  they  did  to  him  and  his  companions  in  the  house  when 
they  saw  me.  They  met  whites  very  frequently,  and  it  was 
nothing- strange  for  them  to  pass  as  I  did.  This  was  often  alluded 
to  in  conversations  which  we  liad  afterwards,  and  they  won- 
dered why  they  should  have  done  so.  I  know  that  it  was  the 
Lord's  doings;  for  if  they  had  not  called  out,  I  should  have 
passed  unnoticed  and  missed  them.  To  my  sight,  the  Lord's 
hand  was  plainly  visible  in  it  all.  and  T  thanked  TTim  for  His 
mercy  and  goodness. 


i^»  '-^^    *» 


CHxVieTER    VIII. 

A  missionary's  craft  in  DANCiER — HE  PREACHES  AGAINST 
US  AND  OUR  DOCTRINES,  AND  ABUSES  OUR  FRIENDS — 
HIS  REMARKS,  HOWEVER,  ARE  OVERRULED  FOR  OUR 
GOOD— THE   lord's   PROMISE   FULFILLED — I  GO  TO  KULa! 

OX  the  Monday  morning  I  returned  to  Lahaina.  and  received 
a  warm  welcome  from  the  brethren.  They  were  much 
interested  in  the  recital  of  the  incidents  of  my  trip.  From  that 
time,  however,  I  stayed  but  little  there.  Much  as  I  liked  the 
society  of  the  Elders,  I  could  not  be  content  there,  for  I  felt  that 
I  ought  to  be  among  the  natives,  tr>'ing  to  teach  them  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  gospel,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a  better  opening  for 
this  work  in  other  places  than  at  Lahaina. 

There  being  none  of  the  Elders  on  the  Island  of  Oahu.  it  was 
decided  that  Elders  Bigler  and  Farrer  should  go  there  instead 


38  .AIY  FIRST  >nssiON. 

of  to  the  island  of  Molokai.  When  they  sailed  for  that  island, 
which  they  did  in  a  few  weeks.  Brother  James  Keeler  was  left 
alone  with  no  one  to  converse  with  in  English,  unless  he  occasion- 
ally met  a  white  man.  This  gave  him  a  better  opportunity  of 
acquiring  the  language  than  he  had  when  we  were  all  there. 
After  some  weeks  he  also  was  led  to  leave  there  and  t'o  travel 
around  the  island  until  he  found  a  people  who  were  willing  to 
receive  him  and  the  principles  which  he  taught. 

When  the  Presbyterian  missionary  at  Wailuku  saw  that  I  had 
come  back  there  he  was  displeased.  He  used  all  his  influence 
against  me  among  his  congregation,  and  one  Sunday  he  came 
out  in  public  and  delivered  a  most  abusive  discourse  against  the 
Prophet  Joseph  and  our  principles,  in  which  he  gave  an  entirely 
false  statement  of  the  cause  of  his  death,  and  also  warned  the 
people  against  me. 

I  happ  3ned  to  be  present  when  this  ermon  was  delivered.  While 
listening  to  it  a  variety  of  emotions  agitated  me.  My  first 
impulse  was  to  jump  upon  one  of  the  seats  as  soon  as  he  had  got 
through,  and  tell  the  people  he  had  told  them  a  pack  of  false- 
hoods. But  this  I  thought  would  produce  confusion,  and  result 
in  no  good.  When  the  sendees  were  over,  I  walked  around  to 
the  pulpit  where  he  stood.  He  knew  how  short  a  time  we  had 
been  on  the  islands,  and,  I  believed,  had  no  idea  that  I  could 
understand  what  he  had  said;  when  he  saw  me.  therefore,  his 
face  turned  pale,  and  to  me  he  looked  like  a  man  who  had  been 
caught  in  a  mean,  low  act. 

I  uAd  him  I  wanted  to  give  him  correct  information  respecting 
the  things  he  had  told  the  people  that  morning,  that  he  might 
remove  the  eifect  of  the  lies  which  he  had  repeated  to  them ;  for, 
I  said,   they  were  base  hes,  and  I  was  a  living  witness  that 

they  were. 

He  said  he  did  not  believe  they  were  lies,  and  he  should  not 
tell  the  people  an>i:hiug  different  to  what  he  had  said ;  he  thought 
he  had  but  done  his  duty,  and  if  the  people  had  been  warned 
against  Mahomet  in  his  day,  he  would  not  have  got  so  many 

disciples. 

I  bore  him  a  solemn  testimony  respecting  the  prophet  Joseph, 
and  the  truth  of  the  work,  and  said  that  I  would  stand  as  a  wit- 
ness against  him  at  the  judgment  seat  of  God,  for  having  told 


INTENDKI)    K\  11,    (tVE!{IU'LED    FOR   (iOOI).  iiO 

that  people  lies  tiiul  for  refusing  to  tell  them  the  tnith  when  it 
had  been  sho\Mi  to  him. 

Much  more  was  said,  for  our  C(»nversation  lasted  a}x)ut  half 
an  hour,  and  while  we  conversed  many  of  the  congregation,  some 
of  whom  understood  English,  crowded  around. 

This  was  thefii-st  occuiTence  of  the  kind  in  my  experience  in 
which  I  was  personally  prominent,  and  it  had  an  importance  in 
my  eyes  which  it  would  scarcely  have  were  it  to  happen  to-day. 
One  of  those  who  listened  to  and  undei-stood  this  conversation 
was  a  brother-in-law  of  Xapelas,  a  half-white  and  a  circuit  judge, 
and  a  leading  man  on  that  island.  He  gave  a  report  of  the 
conversation  which  was  ver>'  favorable  to  me,  and  altogether  I 
think  the  missionary'' s  sermon  did  good.  He  intended  it  for 
evil;  but  the  Lord  overruled  it,  as  He  does  all  the  plots  and  acts 
of  the  wicked,  for  the  advancement  of  His  i)urposes. 

The  Lord  gave  me  favor  in  the  sight  of  the  natives,  and  I  had 
their  sympathy,  though  they  dare  not  avow  it.  for  fear  of  the 
consequences. 

Another  reason  of  the  sermon  not  having  so  good  an  effect 
was  the  preacher's  allusions  to  Xapela.  He  had  called  him  by 
name.  a.s  the  man  at  whose  house  I  stopped,  and  denounced  him. 
This,  of  course,  was  distasteful  to  Xapelas  relatives  and  friends, 
many  of  whom  were  present.  Thus  this  man,  who  fought  in  this 
manner  against  the  work  of  God,  did  not  prosper  as  he  expected, 
neither  then  nor  afterwards. 

The  Lord  has  said  in  one  of  the  revelations  to  His  servants : 

"Verily,  thus  .saith  the  Lord  unto  you,  there  is  no  weapon  that 
is  formed  against  you  shall  prosper;  and  if  any  man  shall  lift  his 
voice  against  j^ou,  he  shall  be  confounded  in  mine  own  due  time." 

T  have  found  every  word  of  this  to  be  true. 

Napela  was  not  frightened  by  what  the  missionary  had  said. 
He  wa,s  threatened  with  removal  fr<HU  his  judgeship  and  with 
being  cut  off  from  their  church  ;  but  he  manifested  no  disposi- 
tion to  have  me  leave  his  house. 

Tlie  pressure,  however,  finally  became  so  strong  through  the 
continued  efforts  of  the  preacher,  that  I  thought  it  would  be 
wiser  for  me  to  withdraw  from  Wailuku  for  awhile.  I  felt  for 
Napela,  for  he  had  a  heavy  opposition  to  contend  with,  and  I 


40  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

thought  that  if  I  went  elsewhere,  the  persecution  would  not  be 
so  severe. 

There  was  a  place  called  KuJa^  (which  means  a  countrj^  near 
the  base  of  a  mountain)  where  there  were  a  few  scattered  villages, 
about  eighteen  miles  from  Wailuku,  to  which  I  was  led  to  go. 
It  was  rather  an  out-of-the-way  place,  though  just  before  I  went 
there,  a  brisk  trade  in  Irish  potatoes,  which  grew  spontaneously 
in  that  region,  had  been  carried  on ;  the  people  hauling  them 
in  carts,  from  there  to  a  small  port  not  far  distant.  These  pota- 
toes were  carried  in  schooners  to  California  to  supply  the  gold 
diggers.  But  they  were  of  a  poor  quality,  and  when  the  farmers 
of  California  began  to  raise  them  the  trade  ceased.  The  business 
had  begun  to  fall  off  when  I  went  there. 

I  stopped  at  the  house  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Pake,  who 
had  charge  of  Napela's  affairs  in  Kula,  and  to  whom  he  had 
given  me  a  letter  of  introduction  when  he  found  that  I  had  deter- 
mined to  go  there.  He  received  me  very  kindly,  also  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Maiola,  w^hom  I  had  met  in  Wailuku.  He  was  a 
deacon  in  the  Presbjlerian  church. 


-»^i 


CHAPTER    IX. 

ANOTHER  ATTACK  FROM  A  ]\nSSIONARY — COURAGE  IN  DE- 
FENDING THE  TRUTH  ALWAYS  ADMIRED — POVERTY  OP 
THE  PEOPLE. 

KULA,  the  district  where  I  had  gone  to  live,  was  visited  about 
once  in  three  months  by  the  Presb}i;erian  missionary  who 
had  it  in  charge.  The  Sunday  after  my  arrival  there  was  his 
day  to  make  his  quarterlj'  visit,  and  I  went  down  to  the  village 
where  he  was  to  hold  his  meeting.  His  name  was  Green,  and 
he  and  I  had  met  a  few  weeks  previously,  and  had  a  conversation 
in  which  he  grew  verj^  angry  and  said  he  would  curse  me. 

There  was  a  large  attendance  ef  natives  at  this  meeting,  and 
he  took  for  his  text  the  8th  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Paul's 
epistle  to  the  Galatians: 


A  WRATIIY   MINISTER.  41 

"But  though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other 
gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we  have  preached  unto  you,  let 
him  be  accursed." 

His  whole  sermon,  as  well  as  his  prayer  previously,  was  directed 
against  us,  warning  the  natives  about  us;  but  the  sermon  was 
the  poorest  and  most  childish  attemj^t  to  show  what  the  gcjspel 
of  Christ  was,  that  I  ever  listened  to. 

After  he  liad  finished,  I  arose  and  told  the  people  it  was  best 
to  examine  the  gospel  w^ell,  and  see  what  its  nature  and  rerjuire- 
ments  were,  and  also  for  each  to  learn  whether  it  was  in  his  p<js- 
session  or  not.  I  then  commenced  t(j  sh(jw  them  what  the 
gospel  was. 

Up  to  this  time  ^Ir.  Green  had  sat  a^jiazed,  as  it  appeared, 
at  my  audacity.  Such  a  thing  as  a  person  arising  in  a  meeting 
and  <iuestioning  what  he  had  said,  or  attem|)ting  to  teach  any- 
thing different,  was  new  in  his  experience,  and  he  seemed  so 
astonished  that  he  could  not  speak.  J^ut  wlien  he  saw  that  I 
had  til*  attention  of  the  people  and  they  were  listening  to  what 
I  said,  he  aroused  himself,  opened  a  catechism  which  he  called 
AloJaila,  or  "Food  of  the  day,''  and  commenced  asking  the 
people  questions.  He  was  determined  to  interrupt  me,  and  to 
divert  the  minds  of  the  people  from  what  I  said.  Some  of  his 
deacons  helped  him  ;  they  answered  his  questions  in  a  loud  voice, 
and  confusion  began  to  prevail. 

I  saw  that  no  further  good  could  be  done  then,  so  I  told  the 
congregation  that  I  intended  to  hold  meetings,  ifnd  would  have 
opportunities  of  more  fiilly  explaining  to  them  the  principles  of 
the  gospel,  and  I  stopi)ed. 

He  warned  the  people  not  to  entertain  me,  nor  to  salute  me  ; 
if  they  did.  they  would  be  partakers  in  my  evil  deeds. 

To  this  I  made  a  suitable  reply  and  withdrew. 

From  this  time  I  commenced  to  labor  in  a  more  public  manner 
among  the  people,  speaking  in  their  meeting  houses  as  I  could 
get  opportunity,  and  doing  all  in  my  power  to  give  them  a  knowl- 
edge of  our  princii)les. 

My  speaking  before  Mr.  Green  had  a  good  effect;  the  people 
saw  that  I  preached  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  and  that  I  was 
not  afraid  to  meet  the  preachers  ;  the  moral  effect  of  this  bold- 
ness up(m  a  simi)le  people  like  them,  I  found  to  be  excellent. 


42  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

And  here  let  me  say  that  courage  in  advocating  and  defending 
he  trath,  when  tempered  with  wisdom,  is  a  qualit}"  men  always 
admire.  The  fear  of  man,  and  the  fear  of  telling  that  portion 
of  the  truth  which  he  is  sent  to  declare,  are  feelings  that  no 
Elder  should  ever  indulge  in.  The  man  who  suffers  this  fear  to 
prevail  with  him  is  never  successful.  The  fear  of  Grod  and  the 
fear  of  doing  wrong,  is  the  only  fear  that  a  Latter-day  Saint 
should  ever  feel. 

My  training  during  the  first  two  years  of  our  settlement  of 
Salt  Lake  Valley,  when  we  were  pinched  for  food,  was  of  excel- 
lent sen^ice  to  me  during  the  days  of  which  I  write.  I  should 
have  thought  the  meagre  diet  we  had  in  the  valley,  rich  lining 
if  I  had  had  it  then. 

The  people  were  very  poor,  and  I  did  not  wish  to  be  a  bur- 
den to  them  in  the  least.  I  avoided  eating  anything,  therefore, 
that  I  thought  they  relished  or  that  they  had  only  occasionally, 
I  have  told  you  that  jwtatoes  grew  spontaneously  there ;  but  the 
countrj^  was  too  warm  for  them ;  this,  together  with  the  lack  of 
cultivation,  made  them  very  poor.  The  potato  when  good  was 
not  a  vegetable  I  liked  very  much.  But  there  I  could  get  noth- 
ing else,  excepting  whortleberries,  which  grew  wild,  and  which 
I  frequently  picked  and  ate,  until  one  day  they  made  me  sick, 
after  which  I  could  not  eat  them  am^  more. 

I  might  have  eaten  the  potatoes  better  if  I  could  have  had 
salt  to  eat  with  them ;  but  this  article  they  were  out  of  just  then. 
The  only  thing  eatable  besides  the  potatoes  was  molasses.  I  have 
never  liked  to  eat  potatoes  and  molasses  together  since  then. 

I  well  recollect  how  I  enjo^^ed  a  meal  of  "poi"  on  one  occasion 
during  this  time.  The  '  'kalo' '  out  of  which  it  was  made,  had  been 
cooked  and  pounded  at  some  distance  from  there  ( '  'kalo'  did  not 
grow  at  that  time  at  the  part  of  the  Kula  where  I  was),  and 
packed  in  the  leaves  of  a  shrub  called  ki;  when  thus  packed  it 
was  called  pen  kalo.  It  had  been  warm  when  packed,  which, 
with  the  heat  of  the  weather,  had  made  it  sour  and  maggoty. 
But  the  people  had  cooked  it  over  again,  and  made  it  into  '  'poi. ' ' 

My  potato  and  molasses  diet  had  removed  all  my  fastidiousness 
about  what  I  ate,  and  I  thought  this  '  'poi' '  the  sweetest  food  I  had 
ever  tasted.     Some  people  eat  maggoty  cheese  because  they  like 


SUCCESSFUL  MEET! N( IS.  n,  43 

it ;  I  ate  this  ''poi"  because  it  was  the  best  and  most  palatable  food 
I  had  tasted  for  weeks. 

But  what  T  lacked  in  food  the  liord  made  up  to  me  in  the 
goodly  degree  of  His  Soirit  which  lie  bestowed  ujjon  me.  What 
I  had  to  eat  was  a  matter  of  indiiference  to  me.  I  was  happy, 
and  1  rejoiced  as  I  never  had  before.  Dreams,  visions  and  reve- 
lations were  given  to  me.  and  the  communion  of  the  Spirit  was 
most  sweet  and  delicious. 

I  learned  a  lesson  then,  which!  trust  will  never  be  forgotten : 
that  there  is  a  happiness  which  the  sen  ants  and  Saints  of  God 
can  have  that  is  not  of  earth,  and  that  is  not  in  the  least  depend- 
ent for  its  existence  upon  the  possession  of  food,  raiment  or 
anv  earthlv  thin.<r. 


-•-^ 


CHAPTER    X. 

SUCCESSFUL  MEETINGS — OL  K  URINCIPLES  RECEIVING  GREAT 
NC>T1CE — ELDER  KEELER  AND  MYSELF  GO  TO  KEANAE 
AND  HAVE  REMARKABLE  SUCCESS  IN  ADDING  MEMBERS 
TO   THE  CHURCH. 

ANEW  native  house  having  been  completed  by  Mr.  Napelas 
men,  it  was  offered  to  me  as  a  meeting  house.  On  Sunday 
the  neighbors  collected  together,  and  we  had  two  meetings,  one 
in  the  forenoon  and  one  in  the  afternoon,  at  which  I  s]>oke  ui)on 
the  jjrinciples  of  the  gospel  and  their  restoration  to  man  upon 
the  earth,  with  the  authoritv  to  teach  them.  Mv  testinionv  and 
words  were  favorably  received  by  the  people,  and  they  were 
desirous  that  I  should  continue  to  hold  meetings. 

It  was  a  busy  time,  and  I  Wiis  only  able  to  hold  one  meeting 
durinir  the  week.  But  on  the  next  Sunday  I  had  a  most  excel- 
lent time.  Five  were  baptized  and  confirmed,  and  the  si)irit  was 
powerfully-  poured  out  upon  all  present  ;  many  were  stirred  up 
to  repentance,  their  hearts  were  touched  and  the  tears  coursed 
down  their  cheeks.  Brother  James  Keeler.  who  had  been  stop- 
ping in  Lahaina.  was  with  me  that  day,  he  having  reached  there 


44  ''MY  FIRST  jnSSION. 

the  pre\aous  day.     Our  joy  was  very  great,  and  I  thought  it  one 
of  the  best  da3's  in  my  life. 

We  held  meetings  during  the  week,  and  on  Sundaj^  I  baptized 
and  confirmed  six  persons. 

It  was  in  much  weakness  that  I  labored  in  the  ministry ;  but  I 
began  to  taste  a  jo}"  that  I  had  never  before  knovn,  and  my  heart 
was  filled  with  praise  and  gratitude  to  the  Lord  for  deeming  me 
worthy  to  receive  the  Priesthood,  and  to  go  forth  on  a  mission. 

Nineteen  persons  had  joined  the  Church  at  Kula,  and  I  felt 
impressed  by  the  Spirit  to  go  elsewhere  and  open  other  places  in 
which  to  minister  the  word  to  the  people. 

The  news  of  what  was  being  done  at  Kula — the  new  religion 
as  it  was  called — the  new  method  of  baptism — for  up  .to  that 
time  the  people  had  been  sprinkled — and  the  doctrine,  so  strange 
to  them,  that  God  has  spoken  again  to  man,  and  sent  His  holy 
angels  to  minister  unto  him,  was  noised  about,  and  there  began 
to  be  a  great  curiosity  felt  by  many  of  the  people  to  hear. 

Although  the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  had  been  taught 
to  read,  and  the  Bible  had  been  placed  in  their  hands,  and  they 
had  been  trained  to  look  upon  the  sectarian  missionaries  as  their 
spiritual  teachers,  yet  the  religion  of  these  missionaries  did  not 
generally  satisf}'  them.  There  was  not  the  power  about  the  Grod 
which  the  missionaries  worshiped  that  they  believed  there  was 
about  the  gods  of  their  fathers.  The  missionaries  taught  them 
that  Grod  no  longer  revealed  Himself  to  men,  that  prophecy, 
miracles  and  the  gifts  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  had  ceased. 

But  we  taught  the  very  opposite  of  all  this.  We  told  them 
Grod  had  not  changed.  He  was  the  same  to-day  that  He  was 
when  the  Bible  was  written.  His  gifts  and  blessings  were  for 
men  now,  as  much  as  they  were  eighteen  hundred  years  ago. 
Man  had  lost  faith,  and  he  did  not  obey  Grod's  laws,  therefore, 
he  had  lost  favor  with  the  heavens,  and  the  gifts  and  blessings 
were  withheld. 

The  Bible  upheld  us  in  our  teachings,  and  there  was  a  con- 
sistency in  our  doctrines  which  pleased  the  honest. 

The  most  of  the  natives  of  the  islands  supposed  the  Bible 
meant  what  it  said  ;  thev  had  not  learned  to  think  that  it  meant 
one  thing  when  it  said  another.  But  after  our  arrival  the  sec- 
tarian missionaries  tried  hard  to  teach  them  that  the  word  of 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SECTARIAN  MISSIONARIES.  45 

God  had  a  hidden  meaning,  and  that  it  was  not  like  other  Uin- 
guage — a  task,  however,  whieh.  with  a  plain,  simple  people  like 
the  natives,  they  found  very  difficult. 

The  missionaries  had  great  influence  with  the  chiefs  and  the 
government.  Their  religion  was,  in  fact,  the  State  religion, 
though  not  so  declared  by  law ;  it  was  popular  to  be  a  member 
of  their  church,  while  it  was  unpopular  not  to  be  ct>nnected 
with  it. 

It  looked  like  a  formidable  and  hopeless  task  to  attempt  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  a  people  and  in  a  government  over  whom 
sectarian  priests  had  such  complete  control.  But  we  knew  God 
could  break  down  every  barrier,  and  remove  ever}'  obstacle. 
We  }>ut  our  trust  in  Him,  and  we  were  notdisapp(jinted. 

I  was  led,  as  I  have  said,  to  prepare  to  go  to  some  other  place 
to  labor,  so  as  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel.  I  had 
arranged  to  start  on  a  certain  dav,  but  was  detained.  Mv  deten- 
tion  was  providential,  for  that  day  Brother  James  Keeler  arrived, 
accom])anied  by  a  native,  by  the  name  of  Namakaiona.  Brother 
Keeler,  after  leaving  Kula.  had  traveled  around  the  island  until 
he  reached  a  place  called  Keanae,  where  he  stopped.  He  had 
read  the  scriptures  to  the  people  of  that  place,  and  quite  an 
interest  had  been  awakened  among  them,  many  were  anxious 
to  hear  preaching,  and  to  be  baptized.  He  wished  me  to  come  over 
there ;  they  had  furnished  him  with  a  horse  to  come  over  after 
me  and  bring  me. 

The  road  over  which  we  traveled  part  of  the  distance  to  reach 
Keanae,  passed  through  a  most  romantic  countr}'.  The  vege- 
tation was  of  the  most  luxuriant  description,  the  trees  being  of 
a  kind  new  to  me,  and  very  grand.  Such  a  wealth  of  vegetation 
1  had  read  of,  but  never  before  beheld ;  and  is  not  seen  ir,  any 
land  outside  of  the  tropics.  The  shrubs  and  ferns  were  in  great 
variety,  and  grew  in  almost  endless  ]irofusion.  Many  of  the 
trees  were  masses  of  li\  ing  green  from  the  root  upward,  being 
covered  with  a  multitude  of  vines  and  creepers  of  various  kinds. 

The  road  was  impa.ssable  for  carriages  or  wagons;  in  fact, 
horsemen  had  to  dismoiuit  and  lead  their  horses  in  many  places 
up  and  down  the  hills,  they  were  so  steep.  Whatever  the  people 
who  lived  in  the  villages  on  that  side  of  the  island  needed,  they 
either  carried  in,  on  their  backs,  or  brought  around  in  boats. 


46  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

To  me  the  journey  was  most  romantic,  and  I  enjoyed  it,  the 
more  so  as  I  now  understood  the  language,  and  was  able  to 
obtain  man}^  interesting  items  from  the  natives  with  whom  we 
traveled  and  met,  concerning  the  country,  and  their  history  and 
traditions. 

Our  arrival  at  Keanae  created  great  excitement.  The  people 
had  been  watching  for  us,  and  seeing  us  aioproach  from  a  long 
distance,  had  gathered  to  meet  us.  Had  we  been  princes  they 
could  not  have  treated  us  with  greater  consideration  and  honor. 
We  obtained  the  Calvinistic  meeting-house  the  afternoon  of  our 
an'ival,  and  there  was  a  large  attendance  to  hear  the  preaching. 

This  was  on  Wednesday,  and  from  that  time  until  Monday 
we  were  constantly  speaking,  baptizing,  confirming  and  counsel- 
ing the  people.  During  that  time  there  were  upwards  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  baptized.  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  power- 
fully poured  out,  and  all  rejoiced  ;  I  never  enjoyed  myself  so  well 
before  in  my  life. 

When  I  started  back  to  Kula,  which  I  did  on  Tuesday  morn- 
ing, I  felt  verj^  tired,  with  the  amount  of  labor  that  I  had  per- 
formed. My  object  in  returning  then,  was  to  organize  the  Saints 
who  had  been  baptized  into  a  branch,  so  that  I  could  return 
again  to  Keanae. 

In  organizing  the  branch  at  Kula,  I  ordained  two  teachers 
whose  names  v>'ere,  Kaleohano  and  Maiola,  and  three  deacons, 
Pake.  Kahiki,  and  Mahoe. 

After  two  weeks'  absence,  I  returned  to  Keanae,  and  we  organ- 
ized four  branches  of  the  Church  in  that  region.  We  only 
ordained  teachers  and  deacons  as  officers,  thinking  it  better  to 
let  them  gain  experience  in  the  duties  of  these  callings,  before 
ordainine  them  to  the  Melchisedek  Priesthood. 


AKRIVAL   OF   NFW   ELDERS. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

ARRIVAL    OF     NEW     ELDERS — THE    ADVERSARY     HI'SV    AMON(J 
OUR   NEWLY   CONVERTED    FRIENDS — A    FISIILNG   SCENE. 

"^l  rillLE  at  Koanae.  we  were  trladdened  with  the  news  of  the 
'  »  arrival  of  missionaries  from  Utali ;  and,  after  the  conference, 
Brother  Keeler  and  1  rei)aired  to  Laliaina  to  meet  them.  They 
were  Eldei-s  Phihj)  B.  Lewis,  Francis  A.  Hammond  and  John 
S.  Woodbury  ;  the  two  former  had  their  wives  with  them  ;  the 
latter,  for  want  of  means,  had  left  his  wiie  in  California,  and  she 
came  down  shortly  afterwards.  I^rother  Lewis  liad  been  aj^pointtd 
by  Elder  l^irley  P.  Pratt  to  preside  over  the  islands. 

I  had  become  so  accustomed  to  talking  in  the  Sandwich  Island 
language  that  it  was  hard  for  me  to  speak  in  my  mother  tongue. 
I  well  remember  how  difficult  it  was  for  me  to  pray  in  English, 
when  called  upon  to  do  so,  in  the  family  circle,  the  evening  after 
I  got  to  Lahaina. 

I  had  been  so  anxious  to  learn  the  language  that  I  would  not 
read  any  book  in  English  excepting  the  Book  of  ^Mormon  and 
the  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  and  had  even  trained  myself  to 
think  in  that  language.  I  did  this  so  that  I  might  be  thoroughly 
familiar  with  it,  for  I  was  anxious  to  preach  the  gospel  in  exceed- 
ing plainness  unto  the  people. 

Of  coui"se,  it  required  an  effort  on  my  part  to  thus  train 
myself;  but  I  was  paid  for  it  all,  in  the  fluency  with  which  I  used 
the  language.  I  was  able  to  speak  and  write  it  with  greater 
ease  and  correctness  than  my  mother  tongue. 

The  adversarv'  was  not  idle  at  Keanae.  We  had  been  very 
successful  in  baptizing  the  people.  The  Spirit  had  been  poured 
out,  and  much  good  has  been  accomplished  ;  but,  no  sooner  had 
we  gone  to  Lahaina,  to  meet  the  newly  arrived  Eldei-s,  than  the 
enemy  began  his  ojjerations. 

After  spending  a  few  days  in  Lahaina,  I  returned  to  Kula  and 
remained  a  short  time  there.  I  felt  impressed  to  go  from  there 
to  Keanae.     Some  of  the  native  brethren  wished  me  to  stop  till 


48  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

the  end  of  the  week,  and  they  would  accompany  me  ;  but  I 
could  not  stop,  I  felt  that  I  was  [needed  for  some  cause  at 
Keanae. 

My  impressions  were  correct.  The  people  of  Keanae  were  in 
great  trouble.  They  had  been  assailed  by  enemies  from  every 
side,  and  those  who  were  weak  in  the  faith  were  in  perplexity. 
Some  had  turned  away,  not  being  able  to  withstand  the  pressure. 
The  Presbjterian  missionary  of  that  district  had  been  there,  and 
had  done  all  in  his  power  to  blacken  our  characters,  to  deride 
our  doctrines  and  to  persuade  the  people  to  forsake  the  Church. 
Two  Frenchmen,  CathoHc  priests,  had  also  been  there,  and  they 
had  done  all  in  their  power  to  frighten  the  people  from  the  truth. 
Another  Presbjterian  missionarj'  had  sent  one  of  his  native 
preachers  there  for  the  same  purpose. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  devil  had  set  all  his  agencies  into  operation 
to  destroy  the  work  of  Ood,  and  they  told  all  the  hes  that  could 
be  brought  to  bear  against  us.  The  French  priest  had  said  that 
we  ought  to  be  driven  out  of  the  place  and  off  the  island,  and 
had  circulated  many  false  reports  about  us.  The  Presbyterian 
missionary  had  visited  the  houses  of  the  people,  and  had  brought 
all  his  influence  to  bear  upon  them. 

Brother  Keeler  had  been  there  part  of  the  time ;  but  his  want 
of  the  language  troubled  him  greath^,  as  he  had  not  acquired  it 
sufficiently  at  the  time  to  enable  him  to  counteract  these  lies  or 
to  make  full  explanations  concerning  them. 

I  learned  that  many  of  the  Saints  were  doubting,  and  they 
had  been  praj^ng  to  the  Lord  for  me  to  retui-n.  This  was  the 
cause  of  my  anxiety  to  get  back.  The  Lord  hears  the  prayers 
of  those  who  pray  to  Him  in  faith,  and  hundreds  of  instances 
like  this  have  occurred  within  my  knowledge. 

It  is  frec[uently  the  case  that  when  Elders  have  been  success- 
ful in  baptizing  the  people,  the  devil  exerts  himself  with  increased 
power  and  cunning  among  them  to  destroy  them.  There 
are  but  few  who  have  joined  the  Church  who  have  escaped  tempta- 
tions of  this  character  ;  and  no  man  knows  the  power  of  the  devil 
as  those  do  who  have  embraced  the  truth.  It  seems  that  those  who 
are  ignorant  of  the  gospel  and  the  power  of  Grod.  never  experience 
the  opposite  power  like  those  do  who  have  l^een  blessed  of  the 


A  FTRITIXa  SCENE.  49 

Lord.     Still  they  should  not  yield  to  the  temptations  of  Satan, 
nor  be  entrapped  b}'  his  snares. 

The  people  who  had  been  baptized  at  Keanae  had  knowTi  but 
little  about  the  two  influences  of  which  we  speak  ;  but  no  sooner 
had  they  joined  the  Church,  than  they  were  assailed  and  tempted 
in  a  way  that  they  never  had  been  previously.  As  a  consequence 
of  this,  s<jme  fell  away  from  the  truth ;  but  others  became 
stronger  in  the  faith,  so  long  as  I  remained  on  the  island. 

We  had  many  excellent  times  at  Keanae.  While  I  was  there, 
at  the  time  of  which  I  write,  I  went  with  the  natives,  men 
aiiJ  women,  to  a  creek  about  two  miles  distant,  where  fish  were 
very  plentiful.  The  tishers  gathered  a  quantity  of  ])lants,  a  shrub 
which  is  called  by  them  aif/inhu.  and  made  two  piles  of  them 
in  the  bed  of  the  creek.  The  men  and  women  surrounded  these 
piles,  each  of  them  having  a  stick  about  five  or  six  feet  long. 
At  a  given  signal  from  one  of  the  party,  they  commenced  thrash- 
ing the  brush.  •  They  were  very  dextrous  in  the  use  of  this  fiail, 
turning  the  piles  over  and  over  and  pounding  them  well,  and 
never  hitting  each  other.  The  pounding  of  the  bush  had  the 
efi^ect  to  stain  the  water  a41  around,  and  to  kill  the  fish,  which 
soon  floated  on  the  surface  in  great  numbers. 

Fish  so  caught  are  excellent  eating.  This  shrub,  though  it 
kills  the  fish,  is  not  injurious  to  man.  It  was  one  of  the  liveliest 
sights  that  I  had  ever  seen,  and  was  very  picturesque.  The 
women  were  adorned  with  garlands  of  green  leaves,  and  had 
flowers  entwined  in  their  hair  and  around  their  bodies.  Many 
of  the  men  were  stripped  to  the  waist  and  als(j  had  garlands 
entwined  around  them.  The  swimming  and  divine  of  some  of 
the  women,  sur])rised  me ;  they  appeared  to  be  almost 
amphibious. 


50  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  DIGNITARIES  OF  THE  KINGD03I — RE- 
TURN TO  NAPELA's  HOUSE  AT  WAILUKU — HUNDREDS  OF 
PEOPLE  BAPTIZED — ELDERS  BECOME  FAjVIOUS  ALL  OVER 
THE   GROUP — A  REMARIvABLE   PECULIARITY. 


N 


OT  satisfied  with  bringing  religious  influences  to  bear 
against  us,  the  missionaries  (of  whom  mention  was  made 
in  the  last  chapter)  stirred  up  the  owners  of  the  land  and  the 
officer  having  it  in  charge  to  stop  the  meetings  and  to  threaten 
the  people  with  punishment  if  they  persisted  in  holding  them. 
This  officer  assembled  the  people,  and  called  them  out  indi- 
vidually, and  tried  to  make  them  promise  that  they  would  not 
attend  any  of  our  meetings  again.  To  accomplish  his  design, 
he  used  both  persuasion  and  threats ;  he  said  that  if  they  met 
again,  he  would  have  them  Ijound  and  either  carried  to  the 
capital  of  that  island — Lahaina — or  to  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment— ^Honolulu. 

In  consequence  of  these  interruptions  and  persecutions,  of 
which  Elder  Keeler  brought  me  word,  at  Kula,  where  I  then 
was,  it  was  deemed  best  for  me  to  go  to  Honolulu,  and,  if 
possible,  see  the  king,  or  some  officers  of  the  government. 

Elder  Philip  B.  Lewis,  who  was  then  living  at  Honolulu, 
and  was  president  of  the  mission,  and  I  saw  several  of  the 
king's  ministers.  The  American  Commissioner  espoused  our 
cause  very  warmly,  and  demanded  of  the  government  all  the 
rights  for  us  which  were  extended  to  any  preachers.  We  did 
not  see  the  king,  his  health  being  very  poor ;  but  afterwards, 
at  Lahaina,  I  had  an  interview  with  the  two  princes,  who 
have  since  been  kings,  and  from  them  received  assurances  of 
protection.  The  visit,  altogether,  was  satisfactory  and  resulted 
in  good. 

I  have  found  that  nothing  is  ever  lost  by  Elders  standing  up 
for  their  rights.  People  respect  others  who  are  spirited  in 
claiming  the  privileges  which  belong-  to  them ;  and  no  Elder 


RKTl'RN  TO  WAir.t'Kr.  51 

should  ever  Ibrget  that  he  bs  the  ambansador  of  the  Kini^^  oi' 
heaven,  and  that  he  should  maintain  his  callinir.  If  he  be 
tirui  -and  respectful,  he  will  be  respected. 

We  succeeded  in  building  a  fine  meeting-house  at  Keanae, 
and  in  all  that  region  faithfully  i)reached  to  the  i)eople. 

I  told  you  in  a  previous  chapter  about  the  manner  in  which 
I  had  been  treated  by  the  missionary  at  ^^'ailuku,  the  jtlace 
where  Xapela  lived.  His  persecution  had  been  so  strong  that 
I  thought  it  wise  to  withdraw  from  that  i)lace  for  awhile  ;  but 
the  time  had  now  come  for  me  to  return ;  I  felt  imi)ressed  to 
do  so;  and,  in  company  with  Elder  Francis  A.  HaniuKjud,  I 
reached  there  one  evening.  We  did  not  know  where  to  go  to 
obtani  quarters  for  the  night;  for  the  missionar}'  who  lived 
there  had  used  every  means  in  his  power  to  frighten  the  people 
against  entertaining  us.  P]ven  Napela,  wdio  had  previously 
afforded  me  a  home,  was  under  heavy  condemnati<jn  for  his 
kindness  towards  me.  I  felt  delicate  about  going  to  his  house 
again,  thinking,  probably,  he  might  be  reluctant  to  entertain 
us  in  view  of  the  opposition  which  whould  be  sure  to  follow. 

When  we  got  to  the  edge  of  the  town  in  the  hills,  one  of  us 
went  and  prayed  for  the  Lord  to  open  our  way  and  raise  us  up 
friends,  while  the  other  watched  to  prevent  interruption.  We 
felt  led  to  go  to  Napela's  house,  thinking  that  if  he  received 
us  kindly  we  would  stop  with  him,  but  if  he  appeared  cold 
and  distant,  we  would  go  elsewhere.  We  found  him  in  conver- 
sation with  four  or  five  intelligent  natives;  most  of  whom  had 
been  classmates  of  his  in  the  high-school.  One  of  them, 
Kamakau,  which  translated  means  the  Jish-hook,  was  a  preacher, 
a  very  well-educated  man,  and  said  to  be  the  best  native  orator 
in  their  church.  They  were  questioning  Xapela  about  our 
principles,  arguing  with  him  upou  them,  he  defending  them  to 
the  best  of  his  ability. 

Our  arrival  seemed  most  opjjortune ;  he  was  glad  to  see  us, 
gave  us  a  warm  welc<jme,  and  soon  transferred  the  conver- 
sation to  us.  At  this  time,  Brother  Ilamniund's  knowledge  of 
the  language  was  very  limited,  so  I  found  myself  the  [)rincii)al 
spokesman.  We  sat  up  until  the  roosters  crowed  in  the  morn 
lug,  conversing  upon  our  principles  and  reasoning  froni  the 
Bible.     For  some  time  they  were  disposed  to  combat  our  views, 

U,  OFIUUUB. 


52  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

but  finally  were  silenced  and  sat  and  listened  to  what  I  said, 
occasionally  asking  questions. 

This  was  the  commencement  of  a  great  work  in  that  region. 
The  preaching  of  the  gospel  created  a  great  excitement ;  the 
people  flew  by  hundreds  to  hear  the  testimony,  and  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  the  missionary  who  had  treated  me  so 
badly  and  who  had  so  bitterly  opposed  and  lied  about  the  work, 
almost  deserted  by  his  congregation ;  they  having  left  his  church 
to  hear  us  preach,  and  see  us  baptize. 

I  confess  that  to  see  him  thus  treated  pleased  me ;  I  did  not 
wish  him  to  receive  any  bodily  injurj^,  but  I  had  hoped  and 
prayed  the  day  would  come  when  he  would  see  his  followers 
desert  his  church,  embrace  the  truth  and  leave  him  to  himself 

We  baptized  a  large  number  of  people  at  Wailuku  and  the 
adjacent  towns,  erected  a  large  meeting-house  at  that  place 
and  smaller  ones  at  the  other  villages,  and  organized  large  and 
flourishing  branches  of  the  Church. 

When  Elder  Hammond  ,and  his  wife  came  to  the  island 
thej'  had  one  child.  Several  children  were  born  to  them  on  the 
mission  before  they  returned.  After  we  had  been  successful 
in  organizing  branches  at  Wailuku.  Waiehu  and  other  places 
around  there,  Elder  Hammond  brought  his  famih^  from 
Lahaina,  where  they  had  been  living,  to  Waiehu,  There  they 
lived  for  some  time  Afterwards,  through  his  labors,  a  branch 
was  raised  up  in  Lahaina,  and  they  moved  there.  All  the 
Elders  who  labored  in  that  field  have  reason  to  remember  their 
kindness  to  them.  Under  their  roof  we  alwaj'S  found  a  warm 
welcome,  and  it  was  home — a  home  which  men  who  were  con- 
stantly speaking  ths  native  language,  living  in  the  native 
houses  and  having  to  conform,  to  some  extent  at  least,  to  their 
modes  of  eating,  could  appreciate.  Sister  Hammond"  s  unvary- 
ing kindness,  her  patience  and  cheerfulness  in  the  midst  of 
privation,  and  her  unsparing  labors  in  our  behalf,  to  sew  and 
do  other  work  for  us,  which,  among  such  a  people  we  had  need 
to  have  done,  as  well  as  his  constant  efibrts  for  our  comfort, 
will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  enjoyed  their  hospi- 
tality. 

The  contrast  between  my  position  then  and  what  it  had  been 
when  formerly  at  Wailuku,  was  to  me  a  constant  cause  of 


OUR   OREAT  HAPPrXESS.  53 

gratitude  to  the  Lord.  He  had  revealed  unto  me  that  it  was 
my  dut}'  to  remain  on  the  islands.  ac<iuire  the  laniruage  and 
bear  testimony  of  His  great  work  to  the  people.  He  had  given 
me  many  promises  connected  therewith.  And  now  I  began  to 
feel  how  true  His  words  had  ])een.  [Many  and  many  a  time, 
when  I  sat  in  the  meetings  and  heard  the  i)eo])le  speak  in  the 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  filled  with  its  power 
and  its  holy  influence,  bearing  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the 
gosi)el,  to  its  restorati(>n  and  to  the  gifts  Avhicli  had  been 
l^estowed.  my  .joy  was  so  gi-eat  that  I  could  scarcely  contain 
myself  I  felt  that,  however  devotedly  I  might  labor.  I  could 
not  show  the  gratitude  to  the  Lord  which  I  felt,  at  being  per- 
mitted to  receive  the  Priesthood  and  to  exercise  it  for  the 
salvation  of  the  children  of  men.  Surely,  never  were  men 
hai)pier  than  we  who  labored  in  the  ministry  among  that  people 
in  those  days;  we  had  a  fullness  of  joj",  and  it  seemed  as  if 
there  were  no  room  for  more. 

The  people,  too,  with  all  their  faults  and  weaknesses,  were 
greatly  blessed.  The  power  of  God  rested  mightily  upon 
them,  and  many  a  time  their  faces  would  glisten  and  ai)pear 
almost  white  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit.  They  knew 
that  Jesus  ^Vas  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Savior  of  the  world, 
and  that  Joseph  Smith  and  Brigham  Young  were  Prophets 
and  senants  of  God.  This  knowledge  had  come  to  them 
through  obedience  to  the  commandments. 

The  rei)ort  of  what  was  being  done  went  through  all  the 
islands.  The  natives  frequently'  went  from  one  island  to 
another.  They  are  a  talkative,  gossipy  people,  and  exceed- 
ingly fowl  of  telling  news,  which  never  loses  anything  after  its 
first  recital.  I  afterwards  traveled  all  over  the  group,  and  I 
found  m.v.self  well  known  by  name  to  all  the  people.  This  was 
frequently  embarrassing  to  me.  because  I  felt  that  I  could  not 
meet  the  expectations  which  had  been  created  respecting  my 
skill  in  the  language,  etc.,  etc. 

The  king  and  his  nobles  all  heard  of  us,  and  of  what  we 
were  doing,  and  though  we  were  often  misrepresented,  we 
could  not  blame  the  Hawaiians  for  much  of  this.  If  left  to 
themselves,  they  had  but  little  of  the  spirit  of  slander  and 
persecution  so  common  to  the  white  race.     They  were  naturally 


54  »rY  FIRST  MISSION. 

kind  and  hospitable.  Had  there  been  no  priestcraft  among 
them,  misleading  them  and  poisoning  their  minds  against  the 
truth,  and  tempting  them  with  worldly  advantages  and  popu- 
larity, the  entire  nation,  I  am  eonvinced,  could  have  been 
readily  brought  to  receive  and  believe  in  the  principles  of  the 
gospel.  But  everjthing  was  done  to  have  them  shun  us,  to 
inspire  them  with  suspicion,  to  make  us  unpopular.  These 
influences  with  those  vicious  and  destructive  pi-actices  which 
are  fast  hurrj^ng  the  nation  to  extinction,  were  against  us. 
But  for  all  this,  we  had  wonderful  success  among  them. 

Like  our  Indian  race,  the  Sandwich  Islander  is  being 
destroyed  and  blotted  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  by  too  much 
of  what  is  called  in  Babylon,  civilization. 

There  is  one  remarkable  feature  of  the  Hawaiian  character 
which  I  will  here  note.  Among  all  the  races  of  white  men  of 
which  I  have  yet  heard  where  the  gospel  is  preached,  the 
practice  of  sin,  and  especially  with  the  other  sex,  is  attended 
with  the  loss  of  the  Spirit ;  and  imless  there  is  deep  and  heart- 
felt repentance,  such  sinners  are  apt  to  become  enemies  of  the 
truth,  and  are  frequently  bitter  in  their  opposition  to  the  work 
of  God  and  His  servants.  Not  so  with  the  Hawaiians,  so  far 
as  my  observation  extended.  It  is  true  that  by  indulging  in 
sin  they  would  lose  the  Spirit;  that  could  be  plainly  seen; 
but  I  never  saw  that  bitter  apostate  feehng  among  them  which 
is  so  common  among  white  men  who  apostatize.  They  were 
not  given  over  to  the  spirit  of  unbelief  as  other  races  are. 

This  difierence  struck  me,  and  I  account  for  it  in  two  ways ; 
first,  because  of  their  ignorance  the  Lord  does  not  hold  them 
to  so  strict  an  accountability  as  He  does  us ;  and  second,  they 
are  of  the  seed  of  Israel,  and  to  them  peculiar  promises  have 
been  made.  I  believe  the  same  characteristics  will  be  found 
among  the  Lamanites ;  but  that  can  be  better  told  by  those 
who  have  experience  in  laboring  among  them. 


ARRIVAL  OF  MORE  MISSIONARIES.  55 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

MISSIONARIES  FROM  HOME — GOOD  RESULTS  OF  THEIR  PRES- 
ENCE AND  LABORS — ^VOYAGE  IN  THE  CANOE  OF  THE 
ISLANDERS — TRADITION  OF  THE  NATIVES — A  VISIT  TO 
THE  VOLCANO. 

AT  the  Fall  Conference,  1852,  held  at  Salt  Lake  City,  nine 
Elders  were  appointed  on  missions  to  the  islands.  They 
reached  Honolulu  in  the  month  of  February,  1853,  Their 
names  were,  Benjamin  F.  Johnson,  William  McBride,  Nathan 
Tanner,  Reddin  A.  Allred,  Redick  N.  xUlred,  Thomas  Karren, 
Ephraim  Green,  James  Lawson  and  Egerton  Snider.  These 
Elders  were  a  great  help  to  the  mission.  Nearl}^  all  of  them 
were  men  of  experience.  Their  presence  brought  additional 
Ufe  and  energ}-,  the  effect  of  which  soon  became  visible 
everj'where.  The  most  of  them  took  hold  of  the  work  with 
zeal. 

They  brought  with  them  the  copy  of  the  revelation  on 
celestial  marriage,  which  was  first  published  at  the  conference 
at  which  they  were  called  to  go  to  the  islands.  They  also 
brought  the  spirit  of  the  conference  with  them,  and  we  all  felt 
the  benefit  of  it. 

After  their  arrival,  the  work  received  a  great  impulse  on  the 
Island  of  (Jahu,  and  especially  in  Honolulu.  That  town  was 
made  alive  with  excitement,  and  large  numbei-s  were  baptized. 
A  branch  of  the  white  members  was  organized,  over  which 
Elder  B.  F.  Johnson  was  appointed  to  preside.  Elders  Tanner 
and  Karren  were  chosen  as  counselors  to  Elder  Philip  B. 
Lewis,  the  president  of  the  mission.  Upon  the  Islands  of 
Hawaii  and  Kauai,  also,  the  work  made  great  strides,  and 
hundreds  were  added  to  the  Church. 

I  omitted  to  mention  that  Elder  William  Perkins,  who  had 
been  appointed  on  a  mission  to  the  islands,  reached  there, 
accompanied  by  his  wife  and  Sister  John  S.  Woodbury,  about 


56  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

the  last  of  November,  1851.  They  remained  for  some  time, 
laboring  to  the  best  of  their  abilitj^  Brother  Perkins  was 
released  to  return  home  becanse  of  his  wife's  failing  health. 

For  the  purpose  of  visiting  the  Saints  and  people  on  the 
Island  of  Hawaii  (the  Owyhee  of  Captain  Cook),  I  had  occa- 
sion to  sail  to  that  island  in  April,  1854. 

In  those  days,  money  was  very  scarce  with  the  Elders,  and 
we  had  not  the  means  to  transport  us  from  island  to  island  on 
the  regular  vessels  which  sailed  in  those  seas.  I,  therefore,  in 
company  with  several  of  the  brethren,  traveled,  preaching  by 
the  way,  through  the  hilly  and  rough  country  that  lay  between 
Lahaina  and  Kawaipapa  on  eastern  Maui,  a  point  considered 
the  best  to  embark  at  to  cross  the  channel  to  Hawaii. 

Our  company  consisted  of  Elder  R.  N.  Allred,  who  was  at 
that  time  president  on  the  Island  of  Maui ;  Elder  J.  H. 
Napela,  and  four  native  Elders  belonging  to  Maui,  who  had 
been  appointed  to  labor  in  the  ministry  on  the  Island  of 
Hawaii.  Their  names  were  Kaelepulu,  Kapono,  Hoopiiaina 
and  Peleleu. 

The  channel  which  we  had  to  cross  was  at  times  verj^  rough 
and  dangerous,  and  many  lives  had  been  lost  in  it;  but  we  had 
faith  to  believe  that  the  Lord  would  preserve  us  in  crossing, 
although  our  vessel  was  one  that  very  few  white  men  would 
care  to  venture  out  to  sea  in.  It  was  a  canoe  hollowed  out  of 
a  tree.  Both  ends  of  the  canoe  had  boards  fitted  in  as  a  sort 
of  a  deck,  which  was  covered  with  mats.  These  mats  were 
lashed  to  the  canoe  and  made  the  top  of  the  deck  as  round  as 
a  log  and  perfectly  water-tight.  You  would  think  this  deck  a 
curious  place  to  go  to  sea  on,  yet  the  native  islanders  were 
perched  on  both  ends  of  the  canoe  on  this  deck  with  their 
paddles  to  row  the  canoe  when  the  wind  did  not  blow.  In  the 
center  of  the*  canoe  a  certain  space  was  left  for  us  to  sit  in,  and 
sides  were  formed  by  lashing  mats  to  some  poles  that  were 
raised  above  the  edge  of  the  canoe.  In  this  place  the  natives 
had  fixed  plenty  of  mats,  so  that  we  could  sit  or  recline,  as 
suited  us,  very  comfortably.  Lashed  across  the  canoe,  were 
two  poles,  each  a  little  distance  from  the  end  of  the  canoe. 
These  poles  extended  six  or  eight  feet  into  the  water,  and 
fastened  to  their  ends  was  a  board,  which  ran  parallel  with  the 


VOYAGE  IN  A  HAWAIIAN  CANOE.  57 

6anoe.  This  we  call  an  outrigger  ;  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  keep- 
ing the  canoe  balanced  when  the  sail  was  hoisted.  On  these 
poles,  when  the  wind  commenced  to  blow  the  islanders  sat,  easing 
up  and  bearing  down,  according  to  the  strength  of  the  wind,  so 
as  to  keep  the  canoe  from  capsizing.  The  greater  part  of  the 
time  some  portion  of  their  bodies  was  in  the  water.  But  the  sea 
has  no  terrijrs  for  the  Sandwich  Islanders.  They  can  swim  in 
the  water  for  houi-s  without  being  at  all  fatigued. 

When  I  looked  at  these  men  perched  on  the  deck  of  the  canoe, 
it  looked  like  going  to  sea  on  a  log ;  and  had  I  not  been  familiar 
with  the  skill  of  the  natives  in  managing  their  canoe,  and  had 
some  confidence  in  my  own  powers  as  a  swimmer,  with  them  to 
aid  me  in  the  water,  I  should  scarcely  have  ventured  in  such  a 
craft  as  this  was. 

We  prayed  to  the  Lord,  before  we  started,  to  give  us  a  pleas- 
ant and  favorable  voyage,  and  the  natives  said  they  had  never 
had  a  more  favorable  time. 

W^e  reached  Upolu  on  the  island  ofHawaii  between  three  and 
four  o'clock,  having  started  from  Maui  about  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning. 

While  upon  this  subject  I  may  say  that  we  returned  to  Upolu 
after  our  visit  had  ended,  and  again  crossed  the  channel,  back 
to  Maui,  but  this  time  we  did  not  have  a  single  canoe.  One  of 
the  native  Saints  and  his  son  had  procured  two  new  canoes  and 
had  lashed  them  together  as  was  the  fashion  in  former  days^,  for 
their  chiefs,  by  fastening  pieces  of  timber  across  both  canoes, 
the  latter  being  from  four  to  six  feet  apart.  This  was  called  in 
their  language  haulua. 

Our  place  to  sit  or  recline  was  arranged  between  the  canoes, 
by  laj4ng  down  boards  and  covering  them  with  mats,  making 
quite  a  comfortable  floor  for  us  to  sit  upon,  and  in  the  centre  of 
this  the  mast  was  raised  and  fastened. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  single  canoe,  boards  were  fastened  at  the 
ends,  with,  mats  lying  over  them  to  keep  out  the  water,  making 
a  deck  to  the  canoe,  while  a  small  place  was  left  in  the  centre 
of  both  canoes  for  some  of  the  natives  to  sit,  and,  if  necessary, 
bail  out  water. 


58  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

We  left  the  four  native  Elders  on  the  island,  and  brought  away 
one  with  us,  who  was  released  from  his  mission  to  return  to 
Maui.     His  name  was  Kailihune. 

Our  return  passage  was  rough  a  good  part  of  the  distance,  as 
we  had  a  good  stiff  breeze  about  two-thirds  of  the  way  across. 
Then  the  wind  died  out ;  but  we  prayed  to  the  Lord  for  more 
wind,  and  our  pra^^ers  were  answered.  We  were  between  six 
and  seven  hours  in  making  the  passage. 

We  traveled  around  the  island,  and  visited  the  famous  volcano, 
the  largest  in  the  world.     Its  name  is  Kilauea. 

Our  party  had  swelled,  including  whites  and  natives,  to  about 
twenty  in  number.  In  addition  to  Brother  Allred,  there  were 
of  our  party  Elder  Thomas  Karren,  who  lived  at  Lehi,  Utah 
Co.,  but  who  is  now  deceased  ;  Elder  James  Keeler,  who  has 
lately  returned  from  another  mission  to  the  islands,  and  who 
now  resides  on  the  Sevier ;  and  Elder  Egerton  Snider,  who  has 
since  died. 

Brother  James  Lawson,  of  this  city,  was  also  with  our  party, 
but  having  seen  the  volcano,  he  did  not  ascend  with  us.  We 
had  to  go  on  foot,  as  we  had  no  money  to  hire  animals. 

The  Sandwich  Islanders  entertained  a  singular  idea  about 
the  manner  in  which  their  islands  came  into  being.  Their 
belief  was  that  the  islands  were  brought  forth,  and  that  Papa, 
a  woman  whom  they  worshiped  as  a  goddess,  was  the  mother 
of  them.  The  first-bom,  they  think,  was  Hawaii,  the  nearest 
island  to  this  continent,  and  the  last  born  Kauai  and  Niihau. 
This  Papa  had  a  sister,  they  say,  whose  name  was  Pele.  They 
worshiped  her  as  a  goddess,  and  even  when  we  were  there  many 
still  believed  in  her.  They  say  she  first  lived  at  Kauai  and  from 
there  removed  from  one  island  to  another  until  she  took  up  her 
residence  at  Hawaii.  They  believed  that  her  place  of  residence 
was  the  pit  of  the  active  volcano,  and  that  there,  all  the  spirits 
of  good  chiefs  and  men  went  to  dwell.  The  bad  ones  went,  they 
believed,  to  a  place  of  darkness  in  the  centre  of  the  earth,  over 
which  a  god  called  Milu  reigned.  "• 

In  former  days  the  people  threw  the  bones  of  some  of  their 
dead  relatives  into  the  volcano.  They  had  the  idea  that  if  Pele 
was  pleased  with  the  sacrifice,  she  would  consume  the  bones, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  dead  person  would  be  permitted  to  return 


THE  GREAT  VOLCANO,   KILAUEA.  59 

and  be  a  familiar  spirit  to  them,  and  be  as  one  of  the  family.  If 
the  sacrifice  was  not  ac<;eptable,  the  bones  were  thrown  out  of  the 
volcano. 

The  pit  of  the  volcano  is  probably  three  miles  across.  There 
have  been  times  when  tte  whole  bottom  of  the  pit  was  one  mass 
of  lurid,  seething  fire.  This  must  have  been  an  awfully  grand 
sight,  but  when  we  visited  it,  we  found  an  immense  field  of  lava 
which  extended  all  around  the  pit,  and  which  resembled,  in  many 
respects,  the  sea  in  its  wave-like  appearance.  It  might  also  have 
been  compared  to  a  field  of  shore-ice,  from  which  the  water  had 
receded,  leaving  it  shattered  and  cracked ;  in  fact,  it  looked  like 
a  frozen  sea,  except  that  it  was  black  as  coal.  In  cooling  it  had 
cracked,  leaving  large  seams,  from  which  steam  and  heat  issued. 

We  found  the  pit  in  which  the  fire  was  raging  to  be  about  fifty 
or  sixty  feet  deep ;  it  was  nearlj^  round,  and  about  one  hundred 
yards  across.  The  sides  were  perpendicular ;  the  strongest  heat 
seemed  to  be  around  the  sides.  On  one  side  there  were  two  large 
holes  verj'  close  together,  which  looked  more  like  the  mouths 
of  two  ver}'  large  furnaces  than  anj'thing  else  I  ever  saw.  Here 
the  melted  lava  was  in  constant  motion,  surging  and  heaving  like 
the  waves  of  the  sea.  The  sound  which  it  made  was  somewhat 
similar  to  the  paddles  of  a  steam  vessel  in  the  ocean,  only  it  was 
far  greater.  We  heard  this  sound  before  we  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  volcano,  and  it  resembled,  to  our  ears,  the  booming  of 
heavj'  artillerj'  at  a  distance. 

The  lava  kept  flowing  in  the  direction  of  these  two  holes  of  which 
I  spoke,  and  rocks  thrown  down  upon  the  surface  of  the  lava 
would  melt  when  near  these  holes  like  sealing  wax  held  in  a 
candle.  It  was  surprising  to  see  with  what  ease  the  fire  would  melt 
this  stony  mass  of  lava,  which  in  some  parts  of  the  pit  would  cool 
on  the  surface,  and  convert  it  again  into  a  fluid. 

Sometimes  showers  of  hot  lava  would  be  thrown  up  in  the  air, 
and  descend  on  the  edges  of  the  pit  where  we  .stood.  When 
this  occurred  the  bystanders  would  have  to  scamper  off  as  fast 
as  they  could,  or  be  severely  burned. 

The  sight  of  this  pit  surpassed  in  sublimity  and  grandeur  any- 
thing I  had  ever  witnessed  or  imagined.  It  far  exceeded  what 
I  had  read  in  written  descriptions,  or  even  what  I  expected  to  see. 


60  MY  FIRST  anssioN. 

Language  fails  to  conrey  to  the  mind  a  correct   idea  of  ita 
appearance. 

We  were  told  that  a  party  of  natives  had  just  been  there, 
throwing  the  bones  of  one  of  their  relatives  into  the  volcano 
with  hogs,  fowls,  etc. ,  sacrifices  with  which  to  gain  the  favor  of 
Madame  Pele,  the  goddess. 

For  some  years  there  had  not  been  any  eruptions  from  this 
crater  which  we  visited ;  but  others  had  broken  out  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  the  fire  and  smoke  of  which  had  been  seen  for 
a  long  distance,  and  ashes  from  which,  it  is  said,  had  fallen  on 
the  decks  of  vef-sels  hundreds  of  miles  at  sea.  From  these  erup- 
tions the  lava  had  run  down  to  the  sea,  sweeping  evervlhing 
■  before  it,  and  heating  the  sea  for  several  miles  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  kill  large  quantities  of  fish. 

The  island  of  Hawaii  is  verj^  frequently  shaken  by  earthquakes, 
the  efiPects  of  the  hidden  fires. 


^ »      ^      I  fc 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

A  HAWAIIAN  FK4ST — ^AMUSING    JOKE    PLAYED    UPON     WHITE 
MEN. 

RETURNINGr  from  the  volcano  towards  Upolu,  we  had  a 
meeting  house  to  dedicate  at  a  place  called  Pololu,  and  the 
Saints  there  had  prepared  a  feast  on  the  occasion. 

An  account  of  a  Hawaiian  feast  may  be  interesting  to  my 
readers  and  I  will  describe  this  one.  The  vegetable  portion  of 
the  feast  consisted  ofpoi  This  I  have  before  described  to  you. 
It  is  not  kept  in  dishes  of  earthenware  but  in  calabashes,  some 
of  which  are  verj-  large  and  will  hold  several  gallons  of  the  food. 
On  this  occasion  the  people  sat  on  the  ground  on  mats.  For 
tablecloths  there  were  large  green  leaves  of  the  plant  called  ki 
On  these  were  placed  packages  of  beef,  pork,  fowl,  dog,  and 
goat,  done  up  in  the  leaves  in  which  they  had  been  cooked.  Fish 
also  was  served  up  in  this  manner. 


A    HAWAHAN  FEAST.  61 

As  soon  as  the  blessing  was  asked,  even-  one  dipped  his  or 
her  forefingers  into  the  "pw*,''  and  Hftingas  much  as  the  fingers 
would  hold,  they  passed  them  into  their  mouths,  throwing  their 
heads  back  as  they  did  so,  to  get  a  good  mouthful.  The  hogs, 
chickens  and  little  dogs  were  speedily  dissected,  the  fingers  being 
the  only  knives,  forks  and  spoons  used  among  them.  The  scene 
was  one  of  tiiie  enjoyment. 

The  Sandwich  Islander  is  never  so  happy,  so  musical,  so  full 
of  pleasant  talk,  as  when  seated  at  a  good  meal ;  and  the  quan- 
tity one  eats  on  such  occasions  would  astonish  an  American  vrho 
had  never  seen  them.  Usually  they  are  particular  about  having 
their  hands  clean,  and  eating  with  due  respect  to  each  other's 
rights.  One  waits  for  the  other  to  put  his  fingers  in  the  poi 
and  their  ideas  of  decorum  and  manners,  such  as  they  are,  are 
as  strict  as  ours. 

We  Elders  who  ate  with  them  were  al^o  seated  on  mats  and 
ate  the  same  kind  of  food  that  they  did,  only  in  place  of  using 
our  fingers  we  either  used  spoons  or  small  paddles  which  we  whit- 
tled out  of.  wood,  to  convey  the  food  to  our  mouths,  thinking  it 
would  be  better  to  set  them  an  example  in  this  respect. 

I  scarcely  think,  though,  that  any  of  our  party  would  prefer 
dog  meat  to  beef,  goat  or  chicken,  though  I  must  say  that  if  it 
were  not  for  prejudice,  I  think  the  dog  meat  as  wholesome  and 
as  clean  as  the  pork ;  for  the  dogs  which  they  eat  in  that  countrj- 
are  a  peculiar  breed,  the  flesh  of  which  is  very  sweet  and  tender. 
They  are  very  particular  in  feeding  them  ;  they  keep  them 
cleaner  and  do  not  give  them  such  disagreeable  food  as  they  do  to 
their  hogs.  But  there  is  something  repugnant  to  people  raised 
as  we  have  been,  in  the  idea  of  eating  dog  meat. 

A  story  was  told  me  by  Brother  Napela  of  a  trick  which  he 
and  some  other  natives  played  off  on  some  white  men  at  a  feast 
which  they  partook  of  at  a  place  called  Waikapu  on  the  island 
of  Maui.  The  white  men  were  merchants  from  Lahaina,  and 
had  been  invited  over  to  this  feast.  They  had  meats  and  fish 
of  ever}'  kind  nearly,  and  among  the  rest  had  a  number  of  roasted 
pigs  and  roasted  dogs.  One  of  the  natives  suggested,  as  a 
good  trick  to  play  on  the  white  men,  that  they  sever  the  heads 
of  the  pigs,  and  put  them  with  the  dogs,  and  take  the  dogs'  heads 
and  put  them  with  the  pigs.     They  did  so.     Of  course  the 


62  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

merchants  did  not  want  to  eat  dog  meat,  and  would  not  touch 
any  of  the  meat  where  the  dogs'  heads  were,  but  ate  heartily  of 
what  they  supposed  were  pigs.  The  natives  tried  to  persuade 
them  to  eat  the  other  meat.  "Oh  no,"  they  said,  "these  deli- 
cious pigs  are  good  enough  for  us,"  and  they  would  not  touch 
the  other. 

I  may  say  here  that  the  native  method  of  cooking  meat  is 
superior  to  ours.  They  contrive  to  preserve  all  the  juices  of  the 
meat  in  it  while  it  is  being  cooked. 

Nothing  was  said  to  the  merchants  about  the  trick  that  had 
been  played  upon  them  until  the  feast  was  ended,  and  they 
could  not  be  persuaded  that  they  had  eaten  dogs,  until  the 
bones  were  shown  to  them,  which  they  knew  to  be -not  those 
of  pigs.  They  tried  hard  to  be  sick  at  the  thought  of  having 
eaten  dog  meat,  but  had  to  confess  that  it  was  as  good  meat 
as  they  ever  ate. 

An  unsuspecting  person,  if  served  with  dog  meat,  would 
never  dream  that  it  was  an>1;hing  but  sucking  pig. 


< «      ip      » » 


CHAPTERXV. 

ANSWERS  TO  PRAYER,  AND  THE  BESTOWAL  OF  THE  GIFTS  UPON 
THE  ELDERS  AND  PEOPLE — ELDERS  SENT  TO  TEACH  NOT 
TO  BE  TAUGHT — BLESSINGS  WILL  REST  UPON  THOSE  WHO 
LABOR  AMONG  THE  RED  MEN  FOR  THEIR  SALVATION. 

ONE  incident,  I  will  relate,  which  occurred  a  few  months 
after  we  went  to  Wailuku,  to  show  how  the  Lord  hears 
and  answers  praj^er. 

We  were  ver^-  much  in  need  of  some  means  to  buy  stuff  for 
garments,  etc.  The  natives  were  very  poor,  and  we  felt  deh- 
cate  about  asking  them  for  an>-thing;  but  we  knew  that  the  Lord 
would  hear  and  answer  our  prayers;  so  we  praj^ed  to  Him. 
Brother  Hammond  had  brought  his  wife  and  child  over  from 
Lahaina.  and  they  were  hving,  as  I  have  told  you,  in  the  vil- 
lage close  to  Wailuku.     He  and  I  had  to  make  a  visit  to  a  town 


THE  POWER  OF  GOD  MANIFEST.  63 

about  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  distant,  and  before  starting,  we 
had  prayed  to  the  Lord  to  open  the  way  so  that  we  might 
obtain  what  we  wanted. 

We  had  traveled  from  the  house  about  three  miles,  when  in 
passing  some  houses  which  were  on  the  beach,  we  met  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Freeman,  an  American,  who  accosted  us  and 
inquired  if  we  had  authority  to  marr}'.  Upon  our  informing 
him  that  we  had,  he  asked  us  if  we  could  spare  the  time  to 
stop  at  his  house  and  marry  him.  We  told  him  as  it  was  on 
our  way  we  would  stop.  I  performed  the  ceremony,  and  at 
his  request  addressed  the  people  who  had  assembled  at  the 
house.     He  gave  us  a  five  dollar  gold  piece. 

We  had  married  many  before  that,  but  this  was  the  first 
money  which  had  ever  been  given  to  us.  His  five-dollars  sup- 
plied our  necessities,  for  in  those  days  we  were  content  with 
very  little. 

I  have  always  looked  upon  this  as  a  direct  answer  to  our 
prayers,  for  when  we  met  the  man  he  was  evidently  on  his 
way  to  Wailuku,  with  his  intended  wife,  to  be  married  by  the 
missionary  there.  The  missionary'  missed  the  fee,  but  as  he 
knew  nothing  respecting  it,  he  was  no  poorer.  I  do  not  sup- 
pose he  needed  it  as  badly  as  we  did. 

It  is  always  more  pleasant  for  an  Elder,  when  he  is  in  need 
of  anything,  on  a  mission,  to  apply  to  the  Lord  for  it  than  to 
ask  the  people ;  at  least,  I  have  always  found  it  so. 

The  Lord  blessed  the  natives  who  joined  the  Church  in  many 
ways,  and  they  rejoiced  exceedingly  in  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit. 
One  day  a  young  man  made  application  to  be  baptized  who 
had  been  so  sick  that  he  was  not  expected  to  live.  His  elder 
brother  was  in  the  Church,  and  the  evening  previous  to  his 
baptism  the  Elders  had  been  called  to  administer  to  him.  He 
was  so  much  restored  by  morning  that  he  was  able  to  arise 
and  afterwards  attend  the  meeting,  and  was  baptized. 

The  same  day  Brother  Napcla  and  some  of  the  other  native 
Saints  had  visited  a  woman  who  believed  in  the  gospel,  who 
wished  to  be  baptized;  she  had  been  unable  to  walk  upright  for 
five  years,  but  she  was  anxious  for  them  to  administer  to  her,  that 
she  might  be  restored.  They  laid  their  hands  upon  her  and 
commanded  her  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  arise 


64  JIY  FIRST  MISSION. 

and  walk.     She  immediately  stood  up  and  walked,  and  went 
and  was  baptized. 

This  created  quite  an  excitement  in  the  neighborhood,  for 
she  was  well  known,  and  the  people  were  much  astonished  at 
her  restoration.  The  attention  of  numbers  were  turned  to  the 
gospel  by  this  occurrence. 

Another  instance  which  happened  about  the  same  time  was 
that  of  a  woman  who  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  She  was  afflicted  with  dropsy,  or  something  very  like 
that  disease.  She  had  tried  various  remedies,  but  obtained  no 
relief  She  had  heard  about  the  gifts  in  the  Church,  and  she 
called  upon  Brothers  Napela  and  Uaua  to  administer  to  her, 
saying  she  was  willing  to  covenant  and  foresake  her  sins.  They 
administered  to  her  and  she  was  healed ;  all  the  swelling  left 
her  and  she  was  baptized.  On  Sunday  she  attended  meeting, 
and  afterwards  made  some  remarks  derogatory  to  the  work, 
indulging  in  a  spirit  of  apostasy ;  her  disease  returned  imme- 
diately, and  she  was  as  bad  as  ever. 

Another  instance  was  that  of  a  woman,  one  of  whose 
limbs  was  withered,  and  who  was  afflicted  with  palsy.  She  was 
baptized,  and  was  speedily  restored  to  health. 

A  niece  of  hers  was  aftei-wards  afflicted  similarly ;  she  re- 
quested us  to  administer  to  her,  and  when  we  did  so,  she  was 
restored  to  health. 

The  same  day  that  this  latter  person  had  hands  laid  upon 
her,  we  had  a  meeting  at  a  place  called  Waiehu.  After  the 
meeting  was  over,  three  persons  requested  to  be  administered 
to,  one  of  whom  was  a  blind  man.  He  had  been  blind  for  up- 
wards of  thirty  years,  but  his  sight  was  restored  to  him.  He 
began  to  amend  fi-om  the  time  hands  were  laid  upon  him,  and 
the  next  morning,  he  was  able  to  see.  He  was  afterwards 
able  to  go  about  without  any  guide ;  and  I  have  frequently 
seen  him  come  into  meeting,  winding  his  way  among  the  peo- 
ple, without  any  aid,  to  a  seat  which  he  was  accustomed  to 
occupy  near  the  speaker.  His  restoration  caused  a  great  stir  in 
the  neighborhood,  fol"  his  blindness  was  well  known.  He  had 
a  son,  a  mature  man,  who  could  barely  recollect  when  his  father 
wae  able  to  see  and  go  about  without  aid. 


CASES   OF  MIRACULOUS   HE.\LINr,.  65 

I  will  relate  another  instance  of  which  I  was  not  an  ej'e  wit- 
ness ;  but  which  I  have  ever}'  reason  to  believe  occurred  as  I 
will  relate  it.  I  have  mentioned  an  P]lder  whose  name  was  Uaua. 
He  was  a  man  of  considerable  faith.  His  wife  had  been 
stricken  down  in  his  absence  and  had  been,  to  all  appearance, 
dead  for  some  three  hours  before  he  had  arrived  at  his  house. 

In  that  country-  when  a  person  dies,  the  friends  and  relatives 
of  the  family  assemble  together  and  manifest  their  grief  by  wail- 
ing. They  were  indulging  in  these  lamentations  and  outcries 
when  he  returned,  ever}'  one  supposing  that  she  was  dead.  He 
was,  of  course,  verj"  much  shocked ;  but  the  first  thing  he  did 
was  to  anoint  her  and  lay  hands  upon  her ;  and,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  all  who  had  assembled,  she  instantly  recovered, 

I  might  multiply  instances  of  this  kind  without  number ;  but 
I  write  these,  to  show  you  that  the  same  works  and  power  of 
God,  which  were  manifested  anciently  through  the  faith  of  the 
servants  and  Saints  of  God  have  been  shown  forth  in  our  day 
and  under  the  administration  of  the  people  of  God,  who  now  live. 

The  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  had  great  faith  to  lay 
hands  on  the  sick,  and  also  to  have  hands  laid  upon  them  when 
they  were  sick.  It  was  not  contrarj- to  their  traditions  for  them 
to  believe  in  this  ordinance,  for  their  old  native  priests,  before 
the  missionaries  came,  had  considerable  power  which  they  exer- 
cised, and  in  which  the  people  had  confidence. 

Many  Elders  desire,  when  they  are  called  tis  missionaries,  to 
go  to  enlightened  and  cultivated  nations.  They  think  their 
experience  among  such  people  would  be  profitable  to  them,  and 
that  they  would  became  polished  and  learn  iflany  things  which 
they  could  not  obtain  among  a  people,  for  instance,  like  the 
Sandwich  Islanders  or  the  Lamanites.  Such  Elders  forget  that 
the  Lord  sends  His  Elders  out  to  teach  and  not  to  be  taught. 
Missionaries  should  not  have  the  idea  of  self-comfort  and  self- 
indulgence  in  their  minds ;  but  the  salvation  of  souls. 

The  man  who  goes  out  expecting  the  people  to  whom  he  is 
sent,  to  teach,  enlighten  and  benefit  him  commits  a  great 
blunder.  He  does  not  understand  the  nature  of  his  Priesthood 
and  calling. 

I  shall  probably  never  forget  the  feelings  expressed  to  me  by 
John  Hyde,  Jr. ,  on  this  point.     He  had  been  called,  at  a  Con- 


66  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

ference  (April,  1856)  at  Salt  Lake  City,  to  go  on  a  mission  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  He  came  to  San  Francisco  on  his  way.  I 
was  then  publishing  the  Western  Standard  and  presiding 
over  the  California  mission.  It  was  with  a  feeling  akin  to  dis- 
gust that  he  spoke  to  me  about  his  mission.  If  he  had  only 
been  called  to  go  to  France,  to  England,  or  to  any  of  the  so-called 
enlightened  nations,  he  said  he  would  have  gone  willingly  ;  but 
to  go  to  a  degraded,  heathenish  people  was  entirely  beneath  him. 
A  man  with  his  talent  and  acquirements  would  be  thrown  away 
upon  them. 

He  apostatized  while  on  the  voyage  to  Honolulu ;  or,  to  state 
it  more  properly,  he  made  up  his  mind  while  on  the  sea  to  dis- 
solve his  connection  with  the  Church.  He  was  an  apostate  in 
his  heart  and  feehngs  before  he  left  San  Francisco.  But  can 
any  one,  who  understands  this  work,  wonder  that  a  man  who 
felt  thus  should  lose  the  Spirit  and  apostatize  ?  It  would  be  a 
wonder  if  he  did  not. 

The  experience  of  the  Elders  who  have  been  on  missions  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands  is  encouraging  to  all  who  are  called  to  go 
on  missions  to  the  Lamanites.  They  may  have  privations  to 
endure,  but  they  will  be  swallowed  up  in  the  joy  of  the  Lord. 
I  am  sure  the  Lord  makes  up  for  any  lack  of  temporal  comforts 
by  an  additional  outpouring  of  His  Spirit. 

The  soul  of  a  Sandwich  Islander  or  a  Lamanite  is  as  precious 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  as  the  soul  of  a  white  man,  whether 
born  in  America  or  Europe.  Jesus  died  for  one  as  much  as  the 
other,  and  to  the  men  of  red  skins  the  Lord's  promises  are  very 
great  and  precious.  ,  Those  who  administer  ordinances  of  salva- 
tion to  them  will  have  fully  as  great  joy  over  them  in  the  day  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  as  if  they  had  been  more  enlightened. 

Blessed  shall  be  the  faithful  men  who  have  labored,  who  now 
labor,  and  who  many  hereafter  labor  among  the  Lamanites  for 
their  salvation.  In  such  labor  the  Elders  will  enjoy  the  power 
of  the  Priesthood,  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  pure,  heavenly 
happiness  to  their  hearts'  content,  and  that  is  all  they  could 
enjoy  among  the  races  which  they  may  think  more  favored. 

I  say  this  because  my  own  experience  has  proved  it  to  be  true, 
and  because  of  the  great  blessings  and  promises  which  are  made 


ANTIDOTE  FOR  HOME- SICKNESS.  67 

to  those  who  shall  labor  for  the  salvation  of  the  seed  of  Israel 
and  the  covenant  people  of  the  Lord. 

In  what  position  could  the  sons  of  King  Mosiah  have  learned 
as  much  concerning  the  power  of  God  as  they  did  during  their 
missions  among  the  Lamanites  ?  Among  what  people  could  they 
have  saved  more  souls?  And  will  they  not  have  joy  with  them 
in  the  kingdom  of  the  Father. 

Thousands  of  Elders  will  yet  have  to  labor  among  the  red  men 
for  their  salvation.  They  should  not  look  upon  this  as  a  hard- 
ship, but  as  a  great  and  inestimable  privilege — a  work  in  which 
angels  delight  to  engage. 


^^ 


CHAPTEK    XVI. 

CONSOLATION  DRAWN  FROM  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON — ITS 
TRANSLATION  INTO  THE  HAWAIIAN  LANGUAGE — GREAT 
JOY  IN  THE  LABOR — A  COMMITTEE  TO  RAISE  FUNDS  TO 
PURCHASE  A  PRESS,  TYPE,  ETC. — PRESS,  ETC.,  ORDERED, 
AND  THEN  SENT  TO  CALIFORNIA — THE  BOOK  OF  MOR- 
MON PRINTED — ^THE  FIRST  TRANSLATION  INTO  THE  LAN- 
GUAGE OF  A  NATION  OF  RED  MEN — KINDRED  LAN- 
GUAGES SPOKEN  TROUGH  THE  POLYNESLIN  ISLANDS — 
THE    "\NT:STERN   STANDARD." 

SOME  of  my  readers  may  be  placed  in  circumstances  similar 
to  those  which  surrounded  me  a  part  of  the  time  on  the  Sand- 
wich Islands ;  and  it  may  be  profitable  to  tell  them  how  I  kept 
from  losing  courage  and  becoming  home-sick.  My  love  for  home 
is  naturally  very  strong.  For  the  first  year  after  I  left  home  I 
could  scarcely  think  about  it  without  my  feelings  getting  the 
better  of  me.  But  here  I  was  in  a  distant  land,  among  a  people 
whose  language  and  habits  were  strange  to  me.  Their  very  food 
was  foreign  to  me,  and  unlike  anything  I  had  ever  before  seen 
or  tasted.  I  was  much  of  the  time  separated  from  my  companions, 
the  Elders.     Until  I  mastered  the  language  and  commenced 


68  ^rr  first  mission. 

preaching  and  baptizing  the  people,  I  was  indeed  a  stranger 
among  them. 

Before  I  commenced  holding  regular  meetings,  I  had  plenty 
of  time  for  meditation,  and  to  review  all  the  events  of  my  short 
life,  and  to  think  of  the  beloved  home  from  which  I  was  so  far 
separated.  It  was  then  that  I  found  the  value  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon.  It  was  a  book  which  I  always  loved.  But  I  learned 
there  to  appreciate  it  as  I  had  never  done  before.  If  I  felt  inclined 
to  be  lonely,  to  be  low  spirited,  or  home-sick.  I  had  only  to 
turn  to  its  sacred  pages  to  receive  consolation,  new  strength  and 
a  rich  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  Scarcely  a  page  that  did  not 
contain  encouragement  for  such  as  I  was.  The  salvation  of  man 
was  the  great  theme  upon  which  its  writers  dwelt,  and  for  this 
they  were  willing  to  undergo  everj^  privation  and  make  every 
sacrifice. 

What  were  my  petty  difficulties  compared  with  those  afflictions 
which  they  had  to  endure  ?  If  I  expected  to  share  the  gloiy  for 
which  they  contended,  I  could  see  that  I  must  labor  in  the  same 
Spirit.  If  the  sons  of  King  Mosiah  could  relinquish  their  high 
estate,  and  go  forth  among  the  degraded  Lamanites  to  labor  as 
they  did,  should  not  I  labor  with  patience  and  devoted  zeal  for 
the  salvation  of  these  poor  red  men,  heirs  of  the  same  promise  ? 

Let  me  recommend  this  book,  therefore,  to  young  and  old,  if 
they  need  comfort  and  encouragement.  Especially  can  I  recom- 
mend it  to  those  who  are  away  from  home  on  missions.  No  man 
can  read  it,  partake  of  its  spirit  and  obey  its  teachings,  without 
being  filled  with  a  deep  love  for  the  souls  of  men  and  a  burning 
zeal  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  save  them.  Ever}^  Latter-day  Saint 
should  read  it,  as  well  as  the  other  records  which  the  Lord  has 
given  to  us. 

The  conversations  which  I  had  with  the  natives  concerning  the 
Book  of  Mormon  and  the  origin  of  the  red  men,  made  them 
anxious  to  see  it.  After  branches  had  been  built  up  at  Wailuku, 
at  Waiehu  and  other  places  around,  by  Elder  F.  A.  Hammond 
and  myself,  I  was  led  to  commence  the  translation  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon  into  the  language  of  the  Islands — the  Hawaiian  lan- 
guage, as  it  is  called. 

My  place  of  residence  was  atBrother  J.  H.  Napela's,  Wailuku. 
He  was  an  educated,  inteUigent  Hawaiian,  who  thoroughly  under- 


TRANSLATINCi  THE  BOOK   OF   MORMON.  89 

stood '^lis  own  language,  and  could  give  me  the  exact  meaning  of 
words.  The  meaning  attached  to  many  words  depended  upon 
the  context.  It  was  important,  therefore,  in  translating,  to  know 
that  the  words  used  conveyed  the  correct  idea.  Unless  the  lan- 
guage used  carried  to  the  Hawaiian  mind  the  same  meaning 
precisely  which  the  words  in  our  translation  gave  tons,  it  would 
not  be  correct. 

Probably  but  few  in  the  nation  were  as  well  qualified  as  Brother 
Napela,  to  help  me  in  this  respect.  He  was  a  descendant  of  the 
old  chiefs  of  the  Island  of  Maui,  in  whose  families  the  language 
was  presers'ed  and  spoken  in  the  greatest  purity,  and  he  had 
advantages  which  no  other  equally  well  educated  man,  at  that 
time,  possessed.  He  had  studied  the  principles  of  the  gospel 
very  thoroughly,  he  had  a  comprehensive  mind  to  grasp  the 
truth,  and  he  had  been  greatly  favored  by  the  Spirit.  As  I  pro- 
gressed with  the  translation,  his  comprehension  of  the  work 
increased.  He  got  the  spirit  of  the  book,  and  was  able  to  seize 
the  points  j^resented  to  him  verv  quickly. 

In  the  last  days  of  the  month  of  Januarj-,  1851, 1  commenced 
the  work  of  translation.  My  fellow-laborers,  the  Elders,  encour- 
aged me,  and  from  the  First  Presidency  at  home — Presidents 
young,  Kimball  and  Richards — came  words  of  cheer,  approving 
of  what  I  was  doing,  and  counseling  me  to  persevere. 

The  labor  of  preaching,  baptizing,  confirming,  organizing 
branches,  administering  to  the  sick  and  traveling  around  visiting 
branches,  and  over  other  islands,  pressed  upon  me  and  claimed 
the  greater  portion  of  my  time.  Those  were  busy  seasons  for 
all  who  would  labor,  and  they  were  exceedingly  delightful.  The 
Lord  seemed  ver>'  near  to  us  upon  those  islands  in  those 
days. 

The  time  occupied  by  me  in  translation,  were  the  days  and 
hours  which  were  not  claimed  by  other  duties.  In  the  beginning 
my  method'wasto  translate  a  few  pages,  and  then,  when  oppor- 
tunity offered,  explain  to  Brother  Napela  the  ideas,  whether 
historical  or  doctrinal,  in  great  fullness.  By  this  means  he  would 
get  a  pretty  thorough  comprehension  of  the  part  I  was  translating. 
I  would  then  read  the  translation  to  him,  going  carefully  over 
ever>'  word  and  sentence,  and  learning  from  him  the  impression 
the  language  used  conveyed  to  his  mind.     In  this  way  I  was  able 


70  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

to  correct  any  obscure  expression  which  might  be  used,  and  secure 
the  Hawaiian  idiom. 

The  Spirit  of  translation  rested  upon  me,  it  even  became  a 
very  easy  labor  for  me.  I  obtained  great  facihty  of  expression 
in  the  language,  and  before  I  got  through  with  the  book,  I 
had  a  range  of  words  at  my  command,  superior  to  the  great 
bulk  of  the  people. 

This  was  a  very  natural  result.  Doctrines,  principles  and  ideas 
were  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  which  were  outside  the  ordinary 
thoughts  of  the  people.  The  translation  of  these,  called  forth 
the  full  powers  of  the  language,  and  really  required — that  which 
I  felt  I  had  while  engaged  in  this  work —  the  assistance  of  the 
Spirit  of  inspiration. 

At  some  times  in  revising  the  translation,  I  had  other  intelli- 
gent men  present  with  Brother  Napela. 

In  this  way  I  went  through  the  whole  book,  carefully  reading 
and  explaining  every  word  and  sentence  to  him  and  to  them ; 
and  if  there  was  an  obscure  expression,  not  leaving  it  till  it  was 
made  plain.  When  it  had  been  thus  revised  I  copied  it  into  a 
book.  The  copjing,  however,  into  the  book,  for  the  want  of  time, 
was  never  quite  finished.  But,  excepting  that  it  was  written  in 
very  fine  writing,  because  of  the  scarcity  of  paper,  it  really  did 
not  need  copying. 

The  translation  was  finished  on  July  the  22nd,  1853 — about 
two  years  and  a  half  from  the  time  I  commenced  it.  But  it  was 
not  until  the  27th  of  the  succeeding  September  that  we  completed 
the  revision. 

My  labors  in  the  ministry  have  always  been  to  me  exceedingly 
joj^fal;  but  no  part  of  them  ever  furnished  me  such  pleasure  as 
did  my  work  at  translating  that  precious  record.  After  I  com- 
menced it,  I  had,  in  preaching,  an  increased  flow  of  the  Spirit, 
in  testimony  I  had  greater  power,  and  in  the  administration  of 
all  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  I  felt  that  I  had  greater  faith. 
I  felt  verj^  happy.  In  truth,  my  happiness  was  bej'ond  descrip- 
tion. Thankfulness  constantly  filled  my  heart,  because  of  my 
being  permitted  to  do  this  work. 

In  December,  1853,  I  visited  Kauai,  the  extreme  westerly 
island,  which  is  inhabited,  of  the  group.  I  had  a  double  pur- 
pose in  visiting  this  island — to  visit  the  Saints  and  bear  testi- 


1 


REVISING  THE  TRANRLATION  OF  THE  6OOK  OF  MORMON.         71 

mony  to  all  the  people  concerning  the  work,  and  to  again  revise 
the  translation  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  There  was  a  native 
Elder  laboring  in  the  ministrj'^  with  Elder  William  Farrer  at  that 
time  on  the  island,  by  the  name  of  Kauwahi,  a  man  of  acute 
intellect  and  talent  and  good  education,  and  who  was  called  the 
most  eloquent  and  best  reasoner  in  the  Hawaiian  nation.  I  was 
desirous  to  have  him  and  Brother  FaiTer  go  through  the  trans- 
lation with  me,  to  see  that  no  word  had  been  omitted,  and  to 
correct  any  inaccuracies  which  might  have  escaped  my  previous 
reading. 

We  commenced  this  revision  at  the  town  of  Waimea,  the  far- 
thest inhabited  point  west  on  the  Sandwich  Islands,  on  the  24th 
of  December,  1853,  and  finished  it  on  the  last  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1854. 

While  attending  to  this  we  did  not  neglect  our  other  duties 
among  the  Saints  and  people.  During  this  revision,  I  read 
the  book  through  twice,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  pages : 
once  to  Brother  Farrer,  who  looked  at  the  English  version, 
to  see  there  were  no  words  or  sentences  omitted ;  afterwards  to 
Brother  Kauwahi,  who  also  looked  at  the  English  book,  he 
being  a  little  acquainted  with  English,  to  correct  any  inaccura- 
cies in  the  translation  or  the  idiom. 

W^here  there  was  an  expression  that  was  not  ven^  plain,  or 
that  was  out  of  the  ordinary  line  of  the  Hawaiian  thought — 
and  there  were  many  such — I  took  pains  to  explain  it  fully  to 
Brother  Kauwahi,  as  I  had  done  before  to  Brother  Napela,  so 
as  to  be  sure  that  I  had  used  the  most  simple  and  clear 
language  to  convey  the  idea. 

In  my  journal  I  find  that  I  say  it  was  more  free  from  mis- 
takes than  I»  could  expect  it  to  be  under  the  circumstances  in 
which  I  was  placed  at  the  time  of  translating — there  were 
calls  to  preach,  frequent  interruptions  to  go  and  administer  to 
the  sick,  and  often  conversations  which  distracted  my  atten- 
tion ;  but  in  the  midst  of  which  I  had  to  translate  and  copy. 

At  a  conference  of  the  Elders,  held  at  Wailuku,  October 
6th,  1853,  the  question  was  discussed,  whether  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  employ  some  printing  firm  to  print  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, or  to  purchase  a  press  and  printing  materials  for  the 
mission,  with  which  to  print  that  and  other  works  necessary 


f 


2  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 

for  the  instruction  of  the  Saints.  It  was  decided  that  the 
better  course  would  be  to  buy  a  press,  etc.  A  committee  of 
three — Elders  Philip  B.  Lewis,  Benjamin  F.  Johnson  and 
myself — was  selected  to  take  such  measures  as  might  be  necessary 
to  raise  the  funds. 

At  that  conference  I  was  released  from  the  charge  of  the 
Island  of  Maui,  and  appointed  to  travel  all  through  the 
islands,  to  collect  means  for  the  publication  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon.  And  here  it  may  be  proper  to  say  that  those  who 
subscribed  for  one  copy  or  more  of  the  work,  were  afterwards 
furnished  therewith  when  it  was  published. 

Brother  Edward  Dennis,  a  white  man  who  had  been  baptized 
at  Honolulu,  loaned  the  committee,  on  their  note,  one  thousand 
dollars  towards  the  purchase  of  the  press,  type,  paper,  etc. 
These  funds  we  sent  to  Brother  John  M.  Horner,  California, 
for  him  to  use  for  the  purchase  of  what  we  wanted.  The 
Press,  type  and  paper  were  purchased  in  New  York,  were 
shipped  around  Cape  Horn  to  Honolulu,  and,  as  I  had  returned 
home  to  Salt  Lake  Valley,  they  were  sent  to  Elder  Parley  P. 
Pratt,  by  his  request,  at  San  Francisco,  California.  He 
thought  at  that  time  of  publishing  a  paper  there,  and  wrote 
to  the  First  Presidency  for  me  to  be  appointed  a  mission  to 
assist  him. 

I  had  barely  reached  home  after  an  absence  of  five  years. 
I  remained  there  about  five  months  and  a  half  At  the  April 
Conference,  1855,  I  was  called  to  go  on  a  mission  to  California, 
to  publish  the  Book  of  Mormon  in  the  Hawaiian  language, 
and  to  assist  Elder  Pratt  in  the  publication  ot  a  paper.  Elders 
Joseph  Bull  and  Matthew  F,  Wilkie  were  selected  to  go  with 
me.  When  we  reached  San  Francisco,  Elder  Pratt  had 
started  for  home.  I  succeeded  in  reaching  him  at  Brother 
John  C.  Naile's  ranch,  where  he  was  completing  his  prepara- 
tions for  the  journey.  He  set  me  apart  to  preside,  in  his 
place,  over  northern  California  and  Oregon,  and  we  separated, 
he  to  go  home,  and  I  to  return  to  San  Francisco. 

Our  first  business  was  to  secure  a  suitable  office,  set  up  the 
press,  and  go  to  work.  Brothers  Bull  and  Wilkie  knew  noth- 
ing about  the  Hawaiian  language ;  but  the  copy,  to  begin  with, 
was  ^ood,  and  they  soon  became  so  familiar  with  the  words 


» 


THE  BOOK  OP  MORMON  PRINTED.  73 

that  they  could  set  it  in  type  nearly  as  well  as  they  could  En- 
glish, and  made  but  very  few  mistakes. 

President  Young  counseled  me  to  take  my  wife  with  me 
upon  this  mission.  My  method  of  reading  the  proof  was  to 
get  her  to  read  the  English  book  while  I  looked  at  the  proofs  of 
the  translation.  By  this  means  I  was  able  to  detect  any 
omission  of  words  or  sentences.  After  going  through  the 
proofs  in  this  way,  I  read  them  again,  to  see  if  any  errors  in 
spelling,  etc.,  had  escaped  me.  This  was  my  only  way  of 
reading  by  co])y ;  for  I  had  no  one  with  me  who  could  read  the 
Hawaiian.  When  we  had  the  edition  struck  off  and  bound, 
they  were  sent  to  the  Elders  upon  the  islands. 

Thus  was  the  Book  of  3Iormon  fii-st  translated  and  published 
in  the  language  of  a  race  of  red  men — a  part  of  the  race  for 
whom  its  promises  are  most  abundant.  The  Elders  who  have 
since  labored  upon  those  islands,  know  the  good  the  book  has 
accomplished.  Its  circulation  can  never  fail  to  benefit  all  who 
will  read  it. 

The  language  of  the  Sandwich  Islanders  is  a  dialect  of  the 
Polynesian  language,  spoken  by  the  Islanders  with  red  skins 
all  through  the  Pacific.  Should  the  day  ever  come,  as  I  trust 
it  will,  when  the  natives  of  other  groups  shall  be  visited  and 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  it  will  take  but  little 
trouble  to  adapt  the  Hawaiian  translation  to  their  language. 
But  whether  or  not,  the  book  has  been  published  to  the  Ha- 
waiian nation.  The  Lord  plainly  manifested  that  it  was  His  will 
that  this  work  should  be  done,  and  for  its  accomplishment,  He 
opened  the  way  most  marv-elously. 

The  publication  of  the  book  was  not  a  part  of  my  first 
mission ;  but  as  the  sketch  of  the  translation  would  not  be 
complete  without  the  addition  of  these  few  particulars  respect- 
ing its  publication,  I  insert  them.  In  addition,  I  may  also  say 
that,  after  the  publication  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  the  press 
and  type  were  used  for  the  publication  of  the  We.'itern 
Standard,  a  paper  which  many  of  my  adult  readers  may 
remember. 


3* 


t 


74  MY  FIRST  MISSION. 


CHAPTER    XYII. 

TIME  OF  DEPARTURE — FUNDS  PROVIDED — SORROW  AT  SEPA- 
RATING— CONTRAST  BETWEEN  OUR  LANDING  AND  OUR 
DEPARTURE — SOULS  FOR  OUR  HIRE — AN  EXCEEDINGLY 
HAPPY  MISSION. 

THE  time  had  arrived  for  tlie  five  Elders,  who  had  remained 
out  of  the  first  ten  who  were  sent  to  the  islands — to  return 
home.  It  had  been  a  matter  of  some  thought  how  we  would 
be  able  to  obtain  means  to  return.  The  islanders  had  but 
little  money.  A  dollar  with  them  was  a  very  large  sum ;  a  ten 
cent  piece  was  a  much  larger  sum  with  them  generally,  and 
more  difficult  to  procure,  than  a  dollar  was  to  Americans.  But 
when  they  learned  we  were  soon  to  be  released,  they  manifested 
a  very  kind  and  liberal  spirit.  Still,  with  all  they  had  done, 
when  our  passages  were  engaged,  we  did  not  have  near  enough 
money  to  pay  for  them.  But  we  had  faith  that  the  necessary 
means  would  come  from  some  quarter.  And  it  did.  Through 
the  kindness  of  Elders  Lewis,  Johnson  and  Hammond  and  some 
white  brethren  whom  we  had  baptized,  we  had  enough,  and 
some  money  to  take  with  us,  to  help  us  when  we  reached  San 
Francisco. 

The  Lord  knew  our  wants  and  he  supplied  them.  And  thus 
He  always  does  with  His  servants  and  those  who  put  their  trust 
in  him. 

Elder  James  Keeler,  one  of  the  five,  failed  to  reach  Honolulu 
in  time  to  sail  on  the  vessel  on  which  we  had  engaged  our  pas- 
ages.     This  was  a  great  disappointment  to  us. 

Elders  Heniy  W.  Bigler,  James  Hawkins,  William  Farrer 
and  myself  bade  farewell  to  the  Elders  and  Saints  at  Honolulu 
on  Saturday,  July  29th,  1854,  and  sailed  for  San  Francisco, 
homeward  bound.  The  wharf  at  Honolulu  was  crowded  with 
native  Saints  and  others,  to  see  us  embark.  We  had  quite  an 
ovation.  There  also  were  the  Elders  from  home  and  Sister 
Hammond — Sister  Lewis  was  not  able  to  be  out — ^to  bid  uS 
farewell. 


r 


AN  EXCEEDINGLY  HAPPY  MISSION.  75 

When  the  signal  was  made  for  all  to  go  on  board,  we  had  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  making  our  way  to  the  vessel,  through  the 
throng  of  people  who  crowded  around  to  shake  hands.  My 
feelings  were  indescribable.  -  INIy  dear  white  friends  I  had  been 
associated  with  on  terms  of  the  closest  intimacy  for  several 
years.  Ties  of  blood  could  not,  it  seemed  to  me,  have  caused 
us  to  be  more  attached  to  each  other  than  we  were.  We  had 
endured  privation  and  toil  together;  we  had  counseled  and  prayed 
together;  we  had  had  seasons  of  joy  and  happiness  together, 
such  as  those  only  know  who  have  been  engaged  in  similar 
labors. 

My  feelings  were  so  acute  at  the-  thought  of  parting  with 
these  beloved  companions  and  Saints,  that,  long  as  the  years 
had  been  during  which  I  had  been  absent  from  home,  and  much 
as  I  had  yearned  for  that  home  and  its  loved  associations,  I 
could  not  control  mj^  emotions. 

How  great  the  contrast  between  our  landing  and  our  depart- 
ure! We  had  landed  there  friendless  and  unknown — so 
far  as  man  was  concerned.  Now  there  were  thousands  who 
loved  us,  who  rejoiced  in  the  truth  of  the  gospel  and  in  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus.  On  that  wharf  that  day  was  an  illustration  of 
the  "vvipnderful  power  of  the  gospel  in  creating  love  in  the  hearts 
of  the  children  of  men.  We  had  gone  forth  weeping  and 
bearing  precious  seed.  The  Lord  had  given  us  souls  for  our 
hire.  Many  who  were  baptized  there  have  gone  hence,  who  I 
firmly  believe  will  be  numbered  among  the  redeemed  and 
sanctified.  Others,  doubtless,  will  prove  faithful,  and  receive 
an  inheritence  in  the  kingdom  of  our  Father. 

More  than  twenty-five  years  have  elapsed  since  my  departure 
from  the  Sandwich  Islands.  During  that  period  my  life  has 
been  a  happy  one.  I  have  filled  many  missions,  have  seen 
great  varieties  of  life,  and  have  had  exceedingly  agreeable  and 
delightful  associations;  but,  after  making  allowance  for  growth 
and  increased  capacity  to  enjoy,  I  can  truthftilly  say  that,  des- 
titute as  we  were  of  many  things  which  people  brought  up  as 
we  are  think  necessary'  to  comfort,  at  no  time  or  under  no  cir- 
cumstances have  I  enjoyed  more  sweet,  pure  and  soul-filHng  joy 
than  I  did  on  My  First  Mission. 


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